The
MICROBIOLOGY 102 WEBSITE
for
SPRING SEMESTER, 2012

Course Announcements
Newest updates first!

Monday, February 20, 2012

I have posted sample questions for the upcoming quiz here, and answers will be posted next week after you've had a chance to go through them and "test" yourself. The quiz will be on Experiments 1 through 7 plus the relevant material in the Appendices.

Also note that Experiment 7A (which we start this week) includes an unknown, and unknowns are always done individually as we have mentioned a few times already. If you still need to do the Exp. 3A (Gram stain) unknown, it will be available this week and you can simply include it on the slide you are Gram-staining for Exp. 7A.

As for the basic elements of the virtual experiments, I will go over 5A this week, and 5B and 7B will be gone over next week.

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Thursday, February 16, 2012

A small but major typo in the MacConkey Agar diagram in the posted Lab Lecture Notes for Period 4: The medium is selective because it inhibits Gram-positive bacteria, not Gram-negative bacteria.

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Wednesday, February 15, 2012

A link to this week's lab lecture notes (Period 4) are given in the box on the right. Also, if you didn't get the take-home problem set in lab this week, it also has a link on the right so you can download a copy. Be sure to heed the paragraph in the box at the top and complete the problem set outside of lab; it will be due at the very beginning of lab next week.

If the concepts of colony-forming units and scientific notation are troublesome, click here for CFUs and here for scientific notation. According to the schedule, Appendix H will be required reading soon, and it should be helpful regarding terminology (including scientific names).

Virtual Experiments 5A and 5B will make a lot more sense after you have read through Appendix D. We will apply the concept of "oxygen relationships" in several lab experiments to come.

• Virtual Experiment 5A on oxygen relationships: The experiment in the Virtual Manual that we use for this ("5-3") had to be improved, and it's presently posted for our course here. You will notice on page 23 (in our manual) a table for results titled "Oxygen Relationships and Related Physiological Processes." And you will also notice an "extra" introduction to the concept in the manual – in addition to the one on-line! Take your time going through 5A; we will find it helpful when we go through Experiment 7 in lab and also some later experiments.
  
  
• Virtual Experiment 5B:
  
  • For media-making, we go to Experiment "5-2" in the Virtual Manual which is here. There are no results to record; just read through the procedure.
    
  • For the example of a requirement for a growth factor, we go to Experiment "5-4" in the Virtual Manual which is here. The table for recording results is at the bottom of page 23. Hopefully soon (at least before the day of the quiz) we will go over the concept of siderophores in lab.

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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Lab lecture notes for this week are posted here. A reminder of what to go over for next week is included at the end. The notes also include the formulas introduced in Appendix C for figuring out the quantitation of CFUs/ml of our water sample, and the same can apply to figuring out the CFUs/gram of our soil sample. We can go over more next week along with any of the "Virtual Experiment 4B" problems that are especially problematic.

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Thursday, February 2, 2012

For upcoming lab periods, always be sure to check the schedule well ahead of time for which lab experiments are coming up and also the things in the "items due" column. From time to time in these updates, I'll make note of certain associated items that need attention, but I won't always repeat what is on the schedule.

• Relevant to our lab work this coming week is reading over Appendix C which concerns "dilution theory." An equivalent to Appendix C which we have on the web is our first dilution plating page which is especially relevant to Exp. 1 (period 3) and also our second dilution plating page which goes along with Exp. 4A – the hamburger plating experiment. Be sure to read over Experiment 4A. Most of you have probably used pipettors in Chemistry, and we use them in our course to transfer specific amounts of liquids aseptically. Note that reference is made in this experiment to page 95 in the manual.
  
  
• As for Experiment 3B – our first virtual lab – it would help to first go through our "Introduction to the Virtual Lab Experience" which is here. Then, for Exp. 3B, click here and scroll down to Period 4 in the on-line experiment which is part of the Department's on-line general lab manual. In Period 4, there is a misprint regarding the directions for the acid-fast stain; it's actually on page 119.
  

For virtual experiments in general, assume that the procedures have been done, and you are recording the results for which there is space in the manual. There will be nothing to hand in, although the material can show up on quizzes and the final.

I am sure that going through the videos again will make a lot more sense, considering how we did these techniques this week in lab. Two things to especially keep in mind: (1) not to let the caps and plugs lay on the table during the transfer of cultures and (2) never to have any tube open and upright in the test tube rack while making transfers. If the diagram on page 92 can't be followed, it is perfectly OK to handle one tube at a time.

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Monday, January 30, 2012

Finally, I have posted the lab lecture notes for last week, and they can be found here. I then went ahead and posted them for this week as well.

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

These days I tend to be at work here Sunday thru Thursday rather than Monday thru Friday. I'll be gone tomorrow and the next few Fridays, but I am always emailable!

The lab lecture notes for this week should be posted shortly.

For next week (as per the whiteboard in lab):

• Be sure to have read over the introductions to Experiments 1, 2 and 3. Also Appendix B.
  
  
• Also look at the Aseptic Technique items under "Microbiological Concepts" in the list of links to the right – specifically those that are associated with videos: Tube-to-tube transfers and three-phase plate-streaking.
  

As the semester progresses, we will eventually get to all of the items listed under "Microbiological Concepts" and "The Complete Virtual Labs."

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Monday, January 23, 2012

The lab sections do indeed start this very week! Please be sure to come on time. As our labs are absolutely limited to a certain number of students per section – and as there may still be those who can not take the course any other semester – please drop the course as soon as possible if your plans have changed and you won't be taking the course this semester. We offer the course also in the summer and fall sections. Enrollment has tended to be lowest in the summer, and that happens to be (at least in my opinion) an especially enjoyable time to take a microbiology lab.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Microbiology 101 and 102 do not have to be taken at the same time, nor is there any special advantage in doing so. The two courses do not follow the same sequence. Some find that 102 taken in a later semester than 101 is a great review of general microbiology.

My email address is lindquis @ bact.wisc.edu. (Remove spaces before using this address. Also, there is only one "t" in this address.)

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Friday, January 20, 2012

An additional time on Wednesday, January 25 has become available for buying the $5.00 supplies package from the Microbiology Club, namely 2:15-2:30 PM. The overall schedule has been revised accordingly.

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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Here is the schedule for the Microbiology Club's selling of supplies for our course. This notice will soon be sent out as our second e-mailing. Our first e-mailing is reproduced here.

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Welcome to the Microbiology 102 Website where we find it easy to post course announcements and links to relevant web material. (These things are equivalent to "Course News" and "Content" found on Learn@UW.) Eventually we will utilize Learn@UW for posting grades.

Information on obtaining the lab manual and other supplies for the Spring semester is on our course syllabus which is posted here. On our first day in lab, we will be passing out the hard copies of the syllabus and schedule. If you do not have the manual for doing the lab work on the first or second day, we will supply a handout with the necessary information; they are presently on-line and linked from the box on the right.

Going along with the syllabus, here are some good things to know:

• Our attendance policy:  We expect you to show up for every lab period, as your lab partner and your observations and understanding of the results and concepts of your experiments depend on it. Let us know if you cannot attend lab for sickness or any other reason. If you do miss a lab, please heed the following before e-mailing your instructor with questions about what material was missed or what to do about making it up: Consult the schedule and the manual regarding the lab material that was missed, and make sure that you see the results of the procedures that were done in your absence when you get back. We will often repeat important procedures in a coming lab period. We can save the things you inoculated and also afford the opportunity to start any "unknown" you missed getting on the day you were absent. And note that the Lab Lecture Notes will always be posted on-line (sooner or later, hopefully sooner).
  
  
• Getting your two credits-worth:  It is always a good idea to be keeping up with the in-lab and virtual experiments right along. During a regular semester, the course only meets once a week (for two hours) for the in-lab experiments. Before we had to convert to the partially-virtual system, the lab met the usual four hours a week for the two credits. So, you should plan on spending a good amount of time (1) reviewing things, (2) looking ahead to the next lab period (according to the schedule) and (3) working through the virtual experiments.
  
  We will be explaining more about what is expected for the virtual experiments in the coming weeks. Our lab presentations (opening lecture with good stuff on the whiteboard), the on-line lecture notes, and the updates on this page (with links) should help to amplify the schedule and clarify the subject matter. And hopefully, the experiments we do and their results should make sense – including what they mean in light of the "big picture."
  
  
• Here is our Bad Weather Policy for Microbiology 102:  In case of inclement weather, especially when the roads are clogged and buses won't run, you should USE YOUR BEST JUDGEMENT about coming in or not. Heavy snow and icy roads and sidewalks can make getting around difficult or impossible. Unless the University publicizes the fact that it is closing down due to bad weather conditions, our course is still on, but don't feel you must come in if it presents a possible danger. See our link to local weather conditions and forecast below.

OF INTEREST TO THOSE IN NURSING PROGRAMS:

• Click here for information concerning Online Masters Degree in Nursing Programs.
  
  
• Click here for an Online Introduction to Microbiology relevant to nursing.
  
  
• (More links to come.)

This page is the home page of the Microbiology 102 website
and was last updated on February 20, 2012 at 5:15 PM, CST.
John Lindquist: homepage & email, complete site outline.
Department of Bacteriology, UW-Madison.