Microbiology Syllabus
Microbiology
Morning Module Quarter 2,2008-2009
Course description:
This course is a combination of classroom and laboratorywork. This is a survey course, inwhich we will study a variety of microbes, including bacteria, fungi, protistaand others. Experiments includegram staining, biochemical identification of microbes, inhibition of growthwith spices, yoghurt production, bread making, and the effects of sugar andsalt on microbial and fungal growth.
Essential Question:What great impact do microbes have on the world?
Focus skills:
Applies effective research methods.
Organizes to accomplish goals.
Portfolio items: Lab notebook, Research Reports andExhibition.
Course Grade:
Classroom participation 10%
Research Reports 20%
Experimentation 40%
Laboratory work 20%
Labnotebook 20%
Tests and quizzes 15%
Exhibition 15%
Benchmarks (preparation) 5%
Exhibition 10%
Classroom participation:includes contributions to discussions, classroom behavior, and participation inother classroom activities. Italso includes coming to class on time, staying in class, and not leaving classearly.
Laboratory work: Students must take care of themselvesand others in the lab. This meansall safety measures must be followed. Glass and other sharp objects must be used with the safety of oneselfand others in mind, and disposed of properly. Jumping, running, and pushing in the lab will not betolerated. Remember that microbialstains can be toxic. Use themcautiously, do not spill them on yourself, and let a teacher know if anaccident occurs. Clean upany mess that is made during experimentation. Ask for help if you if you do not understand what to do, orhow to use or dispose of anything we use.
The grade will include how well you follow safetyinstructions, and also your ability to use other laboratory procedures, such asgood sterile technique.
Laboratory notebook:You will be graded on both your drawings and experimental work for completeness,accuracy, neatness, legibility, and aesthetic sense. Each lab must include dates (beginning and each resultsday), purpose, procedure, results and discussion. Each of these is 20% of thatentry’s grade. Work not related to the lab should not be put in your labnotebook. Do not doodle in thenotebook.
Papers and Oral Reports:We will be doing one written or oral presentation every two weeks, as well asin-class writing. These willcomprise your Research Report grade. The reason we will do this is to acquaint you with scientific writing,and for you to learn how to summarize other’s writing, both orally and in thewritten word. These will be the bulk of your homework. Papers have a specific due date andwill not be accepted past that date. You are expected to turn in a printed copy of your paper at home; I willnot grade a paper without a printed copy. If you have printer problems, you may get credit for turning it in ontime if you email it to me BEFORE theclass at which it is due. Send itto carol@newschoolva.com
Exhibitions: Exhibitions consist of several parts,not only the talk you give. Benchmarks include assignments such as an abstract,an annotated bibliography, a proposal, and participating as an audience member. 5% of your exhibition grade will bedevoted to the benchmarks. Your final exhibition should be a 20 minute talk on your subject, and include a 3-sided poster.
Absences & Lateness policy: Students absent or latefor a total of 10 classes worth of time will be subject to automatic withdrawalfrom this class. Studentswho are consistently late (more that 3 times) will lose class participationpoints for each day they are late. Please respect your fellow classmates, and remember that coming intoclass late is interruptive to others.
Additional information may befound at portaportal.com
On the right side of the page,under Guest Access, type carolgates as the password. On the next page, clickthe arrow on the left side of Nucleic Acids.
Calendar
Week 1-2:
Super kingdoms and kingdoms
Use of a microscope
How to observe the very small and record your observations
How to keep an experimental laboratory notebook
Plankton, algae
Introduction to bacteria, sterile technique, stainingtechniques
Microorganisms in the environment of home and school
Kingdom Protista - Observation of a variety of smallorganisms,
Wednesday, November 19, 1st Report Due
Week 3-4 Microbial requirements: nutritional requirements,pH
Inhibition of microbial growth
Antibiotic production
pH
Spices as inhibitors
Competition
Mixed bacterial cultures:
Making yogurt with mixed cultures – how bacteria interact
Mixed suspension of pigmented bacteria – separation of bacteria, andbasic
bacterialcolonies, colony morphology
Culture and sensitivity
Bacterial diseases
Friday, December 5, 2nd Report Due
Week 5-6
Kingdom Fungi
Eukaryotes, the eukaryotic nucleus and organelles
Yeast:
Saccharomycescerevisieae and fermentation – bread making
Filamentous fungi
Fungal diseases
Friday, December 19, 3rd. Report Due
Week 7-8
Perfect and imperfect fungi
Cheese making
Mushrooms
Symbiosis
Interaction between plants and fungi
Week 9
Exhibition work
Exhibition due dates:
Wednesday, December 17 – Proposal
Tuesday, January 6 - 3 Visuals
Wednesday, January 7 – Annotated Bibliography
Thursday, January 8 – 3 Visuals
Friday, January 9 – comprehensive Outline
Monday, January 12 – Figure captions
Tuesday, January 13 – Abstract and conclusions
Wednesday & Thursday, January 14-15 – Rehearsals
Friday, January 16 – All elements of the Poster, but NOT the put-together poster. Bring ina 3-sided poster, your visuals, and revised abstract, conclusion, figurecaptions, and any other written material you will be putting on yourposter. If there is a particularkind of construction paper that you want, bring that with you. I will have some construction paperhere.
Wednesday- Friday, January 21-23 – Exhibitions – invite yourparents!
Proposal should beabout 1 page long, double spaced. One paragraph should be about what subject you will be doing yourexhibition on. It should includefacts from your previous research. Paragraph two should discuss how you will do the exhibition, e.g.poster, demonstrations, visuals you will include, use of outline or note cardsto help you, etc. Paragraph three should let me know what you need to performyour exhibition, e.g. laser pointer, four microscopes, Bacillus subtilis and Penicillium notatum, loop and gas canister, etc.
Visuals include allvisual additions to your exhibition, such as graphs, photographs of yourexperiments, demonstration materials, etc.
Annotated bibliographyis your bibliography ( as far as you have gotten by the due date) in MLA format(see http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c08_s2.html). It should include a shortparagraph under each entry that tells of the specific information you got from that source. All sources in your bibliography shouldbe cited in your paper as (4) at the end of the sentence where you aredescribing that information. Thesources should be listed in your bibliography in the order in which you citethem in your paper.
Comprehensive outlineshould be no less than one page long. You should be able to give your exhibition using only the outline as aguide. (This, however, does not prevent you from using note cards or otheraids.) It should be in outlineformat, using Roman numerals and Arabic letters. (see http://www.albany.edu/eas/170/outline.htm)
Abstract is a shortparagraph, single spaced, 6-9 sentences. It is a summary of your paper or exhibition. It should not include words like “I will show” or “in this paper you will find.” It should contain just facts from yourresearch. It is in essence, a veryshort story, with sentences abstracted from your work. It should include an introductorysentence, a few sentences from the body of your paper or talk, and a concludingsentence. The abstract always goesat the very beginning of each paper, and is the very first thing on yourposter.
Conclusions are asummary of the important points you made in your paper or exhibition. Thedifference between the abstract and conclusions is that the abstract isintroducing and summarizing the work, whereas the conclusions are reiteratingthe major points you wanted to get across and bringing the work to a close.
Figure captionsshould explain in detail whatyou want your audience to know and learn from that visual. Captions should notsay things like “E. coli,” but should be descriptive. Every visual should havea figure number like this: Figure 3 followed by the information.
Poster is athree-sided poster. It shouldbegin with the abstract, followed by visuals and captions interspersed withprinted information, and ending with the conclusions. All information should be printed large enough that you canread it from 10 feet away. Thismeans it should be at least size 28 font. The poster should contain enough information that it could stand aloneand give the reader the whole story you are trying to tell, although the shortstory, not the novel that you exhibition tells.
Reports should befour pages long, size 12 font, double spaced, in Times or Times New Romanfont. They should be preceded by asingle-spaced abstract. Allbibliographic entries and figures should be cited in the body of the paper (butnot in the abstract). Followingthe paper, include at least two visuals with figure number numbers andcaptions. Lastly, include theannotated bibliography in MLA format. Plagiarized material will result in a zero grade for the work.
When giving an oral report, do not have pages printed fromthe internet as your prompt. Rather, you should summarize the work in your own words, and use that asyour prompt. You should be able tospeak for about ten minutes on your topic.
END
