BISC110/S10:Schedule

BISC110 Spring 2010 Lab Calendar

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
January 25	January 26 Lab 1	January 27 Lab 1	January 28 Lab 1	January 29 Lab 1
February 1 Lab 1	February 2 Lab 2	February 3 Lab 2	February 4 Lab 2	February 5 Lab 2
February 8 Lab 2	February 9 Lab 3	February 10 Lab 3	February 11 Lab 3	February 12 Lab 3
February 15 Presidents' Day No Lab	February 16 Monday Schedule Lab 3	February 17 No Lab	February 18 No Lab	February 19 No Lab
February 22 Lab 4	February 23 Lab 4	February 24 Lab 4	February 25 Lab 4	February 26 Lab 4
March 1 Lab 5	March 2 Lab 5	March 3 Lab 5	March 4 Lab 5	March 5 Lab 5
March 8 Lab 6	March 9 Lab 6	March 10 Lab 6	March 11 Lab 6	March 12 Lab 6
March 15 Lab 7	March 16 Lab 7	March 17 Lab 7	March 18 Lab 7	March 19 Lab 7
March 22 Spring Break	March 23 Spring Break	March 24 Spring Break	March 25 Spring Break	March 26 Spring Break
March 29 Lab 8	March 30 Lab 8	March 31 Lab 8	April 1 Lab 8	April 2 Lab 8
April 5 Lab 9	April 6 Lab 9	April 7 Lab 9	April 8 Lab 9	April 9 Lab 9
April 12 Lab 10	April 13 Lab 10	April 14 Lab 10	April 15 Lab 10	April 16 Lab 10
April 19 Patriots' Day No Lab	April 20 Lab 11	April 21 Lab 11	April 22 Monday Schedule Lab 11	April 23 Lab 11
April 26 No Lab	April 27 No Lab	April 28 Rhulman No Lab	April 29 Lab 11	April 30 Lab 12
May 3 Lab 12	May 4 Lab 12	May 5 Lab 12	May 6 Last Day of Classes Lab 12

Schedule of Experiments

Section	Lab #	Activities
1	1-5	Boot Camp: Metric Measurement; Using Basic Lab Equipment; Making Solutions and Dilutions; Microscopy; Scientific Investigation; Designing & Executing Experiments; Data Analysis & Display; Statistical parameters; Scientific Writing
2	6-7	Genetics: DNA extraction, Visualization by agarose gel electrophoresis; Genotype/phenotype via Taster SNP data collection and analysis
3	8-10	Photosynthesis: Extraction of photosynthetic pigments; Spectrophotometry: Beer-Lambert Law, Linear regression analysis; Hill Reaction: Self-designed investigation of factors affecting photosystems
4	11	Gene Regulation/Enzymology: Invertase enzyme assay
Lab Practical	12	Hands-on skills assessment:

Assignments

BISC110 Assignments/ Weekly Lab Planner

Series	Lab #	LAB DATES__	LAB DESCRIPTION________	Assignment/Notes
1	1	Tues. Jan.26- Mon. Feb 1	Practice metric conversions; Practice pipetting; Making Solutions; Microscopy; Examination of Tetrahymena pyriformis	Homework: Familiarize yourself with the wiki and particularly the information in the BISC110:Resources section of the Lab wiki; Lab 1 Practice Problems downloadable here Media:Lab_1_Practice_Problems.doc; Read about the process of endocytosis in your textbook and familiarize yourself with phagocytosis in Tetrahymena from the following reference articles: Gronlien HK, Berg T, Lovlie AM. In the polymorphic ciliate Tetrahymena vorax, the non-selective phagocytosis seen in microstomes changes to a highly selective process in macrostomes. (2002), Journal of Experimental Biology 205, 2089-2097; McLaughlin NB and Buhse HE, Jr., Localization by indirect immunofluorescence of tetrin, actin, and centrin to the oral apparatus and buccal cavity of the macrostomal form of Tetrahymena vorax., (2004), J Eukaryot. Microbiol., 51(2), 253-257.
1	2	Tues. Feb.2- Mon. Feb.8	Tetrahymena Behavior: Preparation of Ink Solutions; Observations & Hypothesis Generation; Data Analysis; Accuracy vs. Precision; Statistical Parameters; Data Presentation; Group Discussion & Hypothesis Generation	Homework: Finalize your experimental design for Lab 3 and email a detailed protocol to your instructor well before the next lab; Generate two figures with legends from your ink concentration experiment: one of one or more photographs of Tetrahymena and the other a graph of the data.
1	3	Tues. Feb. 9- Tues. Feb. 16	Making Dilutions; Determination of Non-toxic Concentration of Solutions;	Homework: There are animated tutorials on dilution making available at the following link: Dilution Help Tutorials;
1	4	Mon. Feb. 22- Fri. Feb. 26	Student Designed Experiments: Potential Inhibitors of Vacuole Formation;	Homework: 5 minute oral presentation in PowerPoint of your data, including a figure and figure legend, summarizing your Lab 4 experimental results. Read assigned journal article[Link to Wellesley College Library]
2	5	Mon. Mar.1- Fri. Mar. 5	Scientific Writing Workshop with Journal Article Discussion; Figure Presentation Workshop; Finding SourcesGenetics: Taster SNP 1-Isolate and digest DNA; PCR; Start case study	Homework: Partial lab report: Title Page, Results, Discussion and References sections. Guidelines at:BISC110/F09:Resources; Science Writing peer-tutor appointment scheduling at: Wellesley College Writing Program Resources. Have Lab notebooks ready to be turned in for inspection after Lab 6. Read Lab 5 (first lab in Series 2, Genetics) Prepare a flow chart in your lab notebook of all Lab 6 experimental procedures. Read the following background information on restriction enzymes found at:(http://serc.carleton.edu/files/genomics/units/snp_restriction_enzymes.pdf) and on gel electrophoresis at: (http://serc.carleton.edu/files/genomics/units/snp_gel_background.pdf); also Read the following background information for a case study on ethical issues in genetic testing: Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing, Two Sides of the Coin by Farkas and Holland, J Mol Diagn. 2009 Jul;11(4):263-5. Epub 2009 Jun 18 and found at: (http://jmd.amjpathol.org/cgi/content/full/11/4/263); PUBLIC HEALTH: A Case Study of Personalized Medicine by S. H. Katsanis, G. Javitt, and K. Hudson,published in Science, 4 April 2008 320: 53-54 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1156604] (in Policy Forum) found at: (http://0-www.sciencemag.org.luna.wellesley.edu/cgi/reprint/320/5872/53.pdf); AMA DTC testing policy recommendations at: (http://www.dnapolicy.org/news.enews.article.nocategory.php?action=detail&newsletter_id=35&article_id=156); Draw the expected migration locations of the Fnu4H1 digested PCR product obtained from a homozygous taster (left lane), a homozygous nontaster (center lane) and a heterozygote (right lane) on a diagram of an agarose gel; Answer the questions found at the following downloadable link:Media:Media-Homework110Lab5.doc‎ to use as a template for your answers.
2	6	Mon. Mar. 8- Fri. Mar.12	Genetics: Taster SNP 1;	Homework: Prepare a formal figure of the gel picture you obtained today, complete with title, legend and labels. For help, see the Resources section of this wiki: " Guidelines for science writing";
2	7	Mon. Mar.15- Fri. Mar. 19	Genetics: Taster SNP 2: Prepare and perform agarose gel electrophoresis ; Scientific Writing Workshop	Homework:Writing a paper (all sections except M&M) on your Taster/SNP study in the form of a scientific research report. For help, see the Resources section of this wiki.
3	8	Mon. Mar. 29- Fri. Apr. 2	Photosynthesis 1: Photosynthetic pigments	Homework: Media:Assignment for Lab 8.doc Download Questions (Answers to be turned in next lab) through this link; Label your printed spectra and chromatogram, and write figure legends for them; In your lab notebook, prepare a flow chart for the Hill Reaction (Lab 9); Review the mechanisms of electron transport and proton flow in photosynthesis (use your textbook).
3	9	Mon. April 5- Fri. Apr. 9	Photosynthesis 2: Hill Reaction	Homework: E-mail your self-designed experiment testing a variable affecting the Hill Reaction to your lab instructor (cc your partner) by your instructor's deadline for first submission; Modify the proposal after receiving your instructor's suggestions and resubmit it by your instructor's deadline; Proposals must include:– your hypothesis, controls and expected results as well as your protocol (with sufficient detail, e.g., how to set up your tubes, etc).
3	10	Mon. Apr. 12- Fri. Apr. 16	Photosynthesis 3: Investigation of variables affecting the Hill Reaction	Homework: Plot your A580 data (y-axis) versus time in seconds (x-axis) for the different treatments (you can plot several or all data sets on one graph). Plot all data on the same graph as regression lines for ease of comparison (Appendix E). Include the regression equations. The slopes represent the rates of the Hill reactions. Do not include points that have leveled off. Calculate the rates (change over time of the linear portion of your graphs) and plot those values against your variable (x-axis). A full paper on your experiment today in the form of a scientific research report is due at beginning of Lab 11. Discuss your results in terms of how the factor that you chose to investigate affects the electron transport rate and the coupling of electron transport with the photophosphorylation of ADP and/or the role of the H+ gradient in these processes. Compare your results to other investigations published in the primary literature. Refer to the " Guidelines for science writing" information found in the Resources section of the wiki.
4	11	Tues. Apr. 20- Thurs. Apr. 29	Enzymology	Homework: Prepare for a Lab Practical Skills Assessment in lab 12. Answer the following questions (10 points) and hand them in to your instructor at the beginning of Lab 12. Download a Word document form of these questions here:Media: Lab_11_Questions.doc Make sure Lab Notebook is ready to turn in for grading
Skills Assessment	12	Fri Apr. 30- Thurs. May 6	Lab Practical; Turn in Lab Notebook	End of lab

Lab Graded Assignments

Lab Assigned	Lab Due	Assignment description	Point Value (Total 200)
1	2	Practice Problems	5
2	3	Fig. Design (ungraded)	0
3	4	Dilution Problems (5); Fig.& Results (10)	15
4	5	Oral presentation: Results, original figure & legend; Journal article discussion	10
5	6	Lab notebook check (ungraded); Partial Scientific Paper(25)	25
6	7	SNP Taster Questions	5
7	8	Taster Scientific Paper (all but M&M)	35
8	9	Photosyn. Pigments Results	10
9	10	M&M (5pt); Finalize Self-Design Experiment Hill Rxn.(ungraded)	5
10	11	Full Scientific Paper Hill Rxn.	35
11	12	Lab Notebook Check (10) Concept Questions Enzymology/Gene Reg. (5)	15
12	12	Lab Practical:Hands-on skills assessment	35
Other	-	Discretionary Points Preparation & Participation	5