BISC209/F13: Lab2: Difference between revisions

 

Consult the full directions for this assignment found at: Lab 2 Assignment: [[BISC209/S13: Assignment_209_Lab2 | Assignment: Great Plate Anomaly]].  

1. '''Someone from your team must go to the Greenhouse and collect a new soil sample from your sampling site.''' On the day of lab next week, BEFORE lab begins, stop by the lab to pick up a plastic bag containing materials for collecting a new soil sample from your sampling site in the greenhouse. You will only need enough soil to fill half of a sterile, small 15ml, orange capped, conical tube. Make sure you get the sample for THE SAME sampling site as your original sample. Again avoid the top few millimeters of surface soil and wear gloves to avoid contaminating the sample with bacteria from your skin. You probably won't need to use the corer; a disinfected metal spatula or even a spoon should work fine.  

One goal in this project is for your group to end up with 16 unique bacteria (4 each) found in the soil community you sampled.  Work with your partners so that you each choose different looking bacterial colonies from each medium and keep consulting with each other to ensure that your subset is likely to be unique.<BR><BR>

Isolation of desired bacteria from mixed culture is challenging. Your best organizational skills are required. You will be expected to come in at times, on your own, to start, continue or complete this process of isolating to pure culture. We will make every attempt to make the media and reagents that you require available when you need them, but that availability requires advance planning on your part as well as on ours. Communicating your needs or desires well in advance of time of use, will reduce frustration and speed up the process. Remember that because this is an investigative, project based lab course, your instructors do not know the identity of the bacteria you are culturing from your soil habitat. The success of this project is in your hands. Early and continual updating of the plan you devise is crucial. You will not turn in your plan for a grade next week, but your instructor would like for you to create a master plan or flow chart with a preliminary time line and have it in your lab notebook for reference.