Euglena Population Assay - Austin Community College

Student Laboratory Manual
Biology 1407 Austin Community College Introduction This manual is intended to be primarily an electronic document
available on-line. It should be viewed and printed as needed by individual
students
Our approach in this manual is different from most traditional
manuals. We assume that students will work in small groups ("teams")
rather than individually. We expect sharing and pooling of data both
within a group and among groups, not individual reports of measurements.
Tasks are not presented as techniques to be demonstrated (like recipes to
be followed) but rather as group projects to be executed and communicated
(like banquets to be served and eaten).
Since Biology 1407 has an extremely challenging prerequisite (Biology
1406), we want this course to reinforce, expand and practice skills already
present in students' intellectual toolboxes. Students are expected to
"bring to the table" all these skills: basic use of light microscope
including quantitative measurements, micro-liter scale volumetric
measurements, preparation of chemical solutions and quantitative dilution
techniques, usage of electronic spreadsheets, basic graphing and data
analysis (including linear regression). Various places in this manual
refer students to their Biology 1406 laboratory manual for review. (That
manual, like this one, is available on-line.)
We also assume that (modest) modern computer-based tools will be
available in labs. These tools include: computers with word processing and
spreadsheet software, live internet connections at high speed, microscopes
with digital photo microscopy. Our students should learn to think of these
as fundamental tools in biological research. Each exercise is presented in four parts: first is a very general
introduction to the exercise; second is a series of exercises to be
completed on line before class meeting (pre-lab); each third part presents
a project or challenge to be accomplished by team effort; each part four
suggests techniques, references, cautions, approaches, constraints, etc,
but does not give specific directions.
An absence of detailed instruction is extremely intentional: our
student teams should learn to determine their own directions-and then
execute them-and then communicate their work. Students are expected to
develop intellectual independence of their instructor and instructors are
urged to wean students from "hand holding" with regard to directions.
Students should learn to "make it happen" not simply to follow step-by-step
instructions. Of course, procedures involved in making it happen must be
subject to scrutiny (preferably of colleagues) and reported accurately. We have attempted to provide, when appropriate, local relevance for
these labs by choosing example organisms that occur in Texas and that, in
some cases, have economic importance in our state. We include some projects that require multiple weeks to complete. In
doing this, we hope to expose students to time frames for data acquisition
that are longer than a few hours and to illustrate biological phenomena
that unfold more slowly than typical lab exercises permit. Another inclusion in this manual is phenomena of populations. While
traditional lab manuals for such courses focus on individuals, we attempt
here to direct students' descriptions and examinations to populations of
individuals. We hope that ACC students will use this biology class as a vehicle
for bringing multiple technological abilities (photography, calculations,
information acquisition, cell phone use, etc) to bear on biological
challenges. We want society's convergence of technologies to accelerate in
our classroom and we expect our students to lead society in this endeavor. Laboratory Projects for Biol 1407-sequenced for Bostic's sections
(Sequence subject to change) Week 1 Aug 24--28, 2009
Lecture topics: Intro to course; some general principles of biology
Lab: Protocols, Safety ... Electronic Information Searches Week 2 Aug 31-Sept 4, 2009
Lecture topics: some general principles of biology, plant biology
Lab: Meet Some Organisms Week 3 Sept 7--11, 2009
Lecture topics: plant biology
Lab: Making Scientific Observations (inc set-up Tenebrio population) Week 4 Sept 14--18, 2009
Lecture topics: plant biology
Lab: Life History of Mosses, Lycopods, Ferns Week 5 Sept 21--25, 2009
Lecture topics: plant biology
Lab: Life History of Conifers Week 6 Sept 28-Oct 2, 2009
Lecture topics: plant biology
Lab: Life History of Angiosperms Week 7 Oct 5--9, 2009
Lecture topics: plant biology, exam
Lab: To be determined Week 8 Oct 8--16, 2009
Lecture topics: animal biology
Lab: Osmotic Effects
Week 9 Oct 19--23, 2009
Lecture topics: animal biology
Lab: Concepts of Relatedness Week 10 Oct 26--30, 2009
Lecture topics: animal biology
Lab: Life History of Cnidarians, Platyhelminthes, Annelids Week 11 Nov 2--6, 2009
Lecture topics: animal biology
Lab: Arthropoda--Lobster Dissection Week 12 Nov 9--13, 2009
Lecture topics; animal biology
Lab: Chordata--Rat Dissection Week 13 Nov 16--20, 2009
Lecture topics: animal biology, exam
Lab: Euglena population assay; Week 14 Nov 23--27, 2009 (inc Thanksgiving)
Lecture topics: microbiology
Lab: Life History of Fungal Groups Week 15 Nov 30-Dec 4, 2009
Lecture topics: microbiology
Lab: "Protists" and Prokaryotes Week 16 Dec 7--11, 2009
Lecture topics: microbiology
Lab: final exam Biol 1407 Appendices for Laboratory Projects
Appendix 1 Using our Spectrophotometers Appendix 2 Using our Digital Cameras Appendix 3 Using our Mechanical Stages for Measurements Appendix 4 Illustrating Biological Material Appendix 5 Maintaining Laboratory Notebooks and Related Records Appendix 6 Using "Prepared" Slides Appendix 7 Reading a Vernier Scale Appendix 8 Constructing Graphic Displays of Data Appendix 9 Using ACC's "Blackboard" program Appendix 10: Interpreting Absorbance Spectra Appendix 11: Using Oil Immersion Lenses Appendix 12: Measuring an Area of Irregular Shape Establish General Laboratory Protocols for this Course: Safety Training,
Equipment Orientation, Lab Partners, And Electronic Information Searches
"Establish...Protocols" and "Meet...Organisms" labs can overlap and some
parts can be done out of class as homework. Brief Background
Modern biological research almost always requires teams of scientists to
work together while sharing both facilities and information. Without
delay, you need to form a lab "team", learn our school's standard practices
(protocols) and establish effective communications.
II. Pre-lab assignment 1. Review the following materials from Biol 1406 labs:
Use of light microscope-including calibration of reticles
(http://www.austincc.edu/biology/labmanuals/140612th/12th1406lab03.pdf) and (http://www.austincc.edu/biology/labmanuals/140612th/12th1406lab04.pdf). Use of spectrophotometer-including establishment of a material's
absorbance spectrum
(http://www.austincc.edu/biology/labmanuals/140612th/12th1406lab02.pdf) Dilution techniques-including both serial and parallel dilutions
(http://www.austincc.edu/biology/labmanuals/140612th/12th1406lab02.pdf) 2. Review the following appendices to this lab manual: Appendix 1 Using our Spectrophotometers
Appendix 2 Using our Digital Cameras
Appendix 3 Using our Mechanical Stages for Measurements
Appendix 4 Illustrating Biological Material
Appendix 5 Maintaining Laboratory Notebooks and Related Records
Appendix 6 Using "Prepared" Slides
Appendix 7 Reading a Vernier Scale
Appendix 8 Constructing Graphic Displays of Data
Appendix 9 Using ACC's "Blackboard" program
Appendix 10: Interpreting Absorbance Spectra
Appendix 11: Using Oil Immersion Lenses 3. After studying relevant material in your textbook and other
information sources, visit the "Blackboard" site for your class and
complete this lab's pre-lab quiz according to your instructor's general
directions. Check your answers when you finish, of course. Student Team Assignment
1. Participate in ACC safety training and sign official roster of
persons allowed to perform laboratory work in your lab room.
2. Assemble your lab "team"; your instructor may have some
suggestions for doing this, but, in general, it will be useful to have team
members with differing sets of skills.
3. All team members should demonstrate to their entire team that
they have competence in every piece of equipment and every technique listed
below (part IV). Most students will be more comfortable with some
techniques than others, but mutual instruction and coaching is expected
until all have competence in every technique.
4. Using in-lab computers, assemble information and links to
further information about these two organisms: Tenebrio, Trypanosoma.
You must utilize at least four widely different search engines/data
bases:
1) google (http://www.google.com )
2) ACC library search engine that utilizes data bases not visible to
the world wide web (http://library.austincc.edu )-use link that
says "find articles and research information",
3) youtube (http://www.youtube.com ),
4) Genome databases co-coordinated by