BISC 111/113:Calendar and Assignments

BISC111/113 Fall 2011 Lab Calendar

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
August 29	August 30 Lab 1	August 31 Lab 1	September 1 Lab 1	September 2 Lab 1
September 5 Labor Day No Classes	September 6	September 7 Monday Schedule Lab 1	September 8 Lab 2	September 9 Lab 2
September 12 Lab 2	September 13 Lab 2	September 14 Lab 2	September 15 Lab 3	September 16 Lab 3
September 19 Lab 3	September 20 Lab 3	September 21 Lab 3	September 22 Lab 4	September 23 Lab 4
September 26 Lab 4	September 27 Lab 4	September 28 Lab 4	September29 Lab 5	September 30 Lab 5
February 28 Lab 5	March 1 Lab 6	March 2 Lab 6	March 3 Lab 6	March 4 Lab 6
March 7 Lab 6	March 8 Lab 7	March 9 Lab 7	March 10 Lab 7	March 11 Lab 7
March 14 Lab 7	March 15 NO LAB	March 16 NO LAB	March 17 NO LAB Spring Break	March 18 NO LAB Spring Break
March 21 Spring Break	March 22 Spring Break	March 23 Spring Break	March 24 Spring Break	March 25 Spring Break
March 28 Lab 8	March 29 Lab 8	March 30 Lab 8	March 31 Lab 8	April 1 Lab 8
April 4 Lab 9	April 5 Lab 9	April 6 Lab 9	April 7 Lab 9	April 8 Lab 9
April 11 Lab 10	April 12 Lab 10	April 13 Lab 10	April 14 Lab 10	April 15 Lab 10
April 18 Patriots' Day NO LAB	April 19 Monday Schedule NO LAB	April 20 Lab 11	April 21 Lab 11	April 22 Lab 11
April 25 Lab 11	April 26 Lab 11	April 27 Rhulman NO LAB	April 28 NO LAB	April 29 NO LAB
May 2 Lab 12	May 3 Lab 12	May 4 Lab 12	May 5 Lab 12	May 6 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:

BISC110/112 Assignments/ Weekly Lab Planner

Series	Lab #	LAB DATES	LAB DESCRIPTION	Assignment/Notes
1	1	Jan. 24 to Jan. 28	Practice metric conversions; Practice pipetting; Making Solutions; Microscopy; Examination of Tetrahymena pyriformis	Homework: Familiarize yourself with the wiki, particularly the information in the BISC110/S11:Resources section of the Lab wiki; Lab 1 Practice Problems downloadable here Media:Lab_1_Practice_Problems110.doc; Read about the process of endocytosis in your textbook; 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	Jan. 31 to Feb. 4	Tetrahymena Behavior: Phagocytosis; Observations; Data Analysis; Accuracy vs. Precision; Statistical Parameters; Data Presentation; Effective Figure Design and Legends using the Gronlien article as a model.	Homework: Study dilution making for Lab 3; Generate two figures with legends from your Tetrahymena experiment: one or more microphotographs of Tetrahymena and a graph or table of data.
1	3	Feb. 7 to Feb. 11	Making Dilutions; Determination of toxicity of Heavy Metals on Tetrahymena; Design your own experiment exploring inhibitors and Tetrahymena phagocytosis	Homework: There are animated tutorials on dilution available at the following link: Dilution Help Tutorials; Finalize your experimental design for Lab 4; have it approved by your lab instructor; Write a results section of a scientific report on your findings in the Tetrahymena toxicity experiment including a narrative portion and integrated figures with legends; Work the dilution problems found at Media: Lab_3_110_Dilution_Problems.doc and hand them in in Lab 4.
1	4	Feb. 14 to Feb. 18	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 for science writing discussion * Gronlien, H.K., Berg, T., Lovlie, A.M. (2002). In the polymorphic ciliate Tetrahymena vorax, the non-selective phagocytosis seen in microstomes changes to a highly selective process in macrostomes, J. Exp. Biol. 205, 2089-2097
1	5	Feb. 22 to Feb. 28	Scientific Writing Workshop with Journal Article Discussion; Science Writing Workshop;	Homework: Tetrahymena Partial Scientific Research Report: DUE AT THE BEGINNING OF LAB 6 Title Page, Results, Discussion and References sections. Guidelines at: 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 6 (first lab in Series 2, Genetics) Prepare a flow chart in your lab notebook of all Lab 6 experimental procedures.
2	6	March 1 to March 7	Genetics: Taster SNP 1-Test PTC Taster Phenotype; Isolate and digest DNA; PCR;	Homework: Read the following background information on restriction enzymes and on gel electrophoresis Read the following background information 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. 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) AMA DTC testing policy recommendations 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: Media:Taster_DTC_questions110.doc‎ to use as a template for your answers.
2	7	March 8 to March 14	Genetics: Taster SNP 2: Prepare and perform agarose gel electrophoresis; Determine PTC Taster Genotype; Scientific Writing Workshop	Homework: Write a scientific research report (all sections except M&M)on your PTC Taster SNP study. Due on April 1st at 5pm. For help, see the Resources section of this wiki.
3	8	March 28 to April 1	Photosynthesis 1: Photosynthetic pigments	Homework: Prepare a full results section for the photosynthetic pigment identification experiment; 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	April 4 to April 8	Photosynthesis 2: Hill Reaction	Homework: Finalize your self-designed experiment testing a variable affecting the Hill Reaction; Write a Materials and Methods style version of the Hill Reaction experiment that you did this week in Lab 9
3	10	April 11 to April 15	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 (with the treatments on the same graph).See(Appendix E). Determine regression equations for the linear part of each data plots to get slope (m) values (slopes represent the rates of electron transport). 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, 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 in photosynthesis. 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	April 20 to April 26	Enzymology	Homework: Prepare for a Lab Practical Skills Assessment in lab 12. Answer the following questions (5 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_110.doc Make sure Lab Notebook is ready to turn in for grading
Skills Assessment	12	May 2 to 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	Due for all students Fri. 4/1 by 5pm	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