567L...THE END!
Everyone, we are getting down to the wire. Many of you are doing fine, but some are pretty far behind and you need to take advantage of the Spring break to get caught up.
Things that need to get done:
1) Taq gel showing positive and negative controls
2) Short write up of 16S rDNA sequencing including identification of bacteria via your sequence (i.e., BLAST analysis)
3) Picture of T4 lysate/plate.
4) Check off on your project proposal. Everyone needs to be starting their projects just after Spring break. This means that you have gotten approval. If you are working on a project in an outside lab, then you do not need to come to class. If you are going to do you project in the classroom, then you should plan to be there on both T and H. If you need things ordered, then you need to get the information to Savannah ASAP.
5) Weekly reports on your independent project. These are due every Monday morning (before noon) to Rob. Succinctly put tell him what you accomplished the previous week and what you will be doing during the upcoming week.
6) Use the scheduled class times as an opportunity to come discuss problems and solutions with the TAs and other students. In general, you should be spending 10-12 hours a week on your independent project. I would suggest working really hard the first couple of weeks of April so that you aren't panicking at the end of April going into finals.
7) Presentation of final project on May 5 and 7
Everyone presents their project (10 minutes per presentation; we have decided that if you are working in pairs you can present in pairs, but be sure that the presentation content is equally shared)
Everyone needs to be there to grade the presentations in their section (you will be graded on how well you do this part, so please take it seriously and listen to everyone)
Turn in Lab Notebooks
Notes on talks
As the presenter:
Put references for everything that isn't yours
Believe your own data
Don't give detailed protocols on slides, rather present the overview of the methods and be ready to answer questions about details
CONTROLS, CONTROLS, CONTROLS!!!
Titles of slides should be informative
Clearly state goals and hypothesis
Keep talk to 10 minutes
Remember to do genera species correctly (Homo sapien)
As a audience member:
Write down critique for each presenter
- include presenters name
- put on separate piece of paper
Rate presentation from 1 to 10 (best)
Ask questions where you don't understand...because you aren't the only one:)
Turn in critiques t
Remember, your goal is to provide real criticisms...people won't improve if they don't know what needs to be improved.
Points to consider:
Did you understand the scientific question?
Was the approach good?
Did the group have good controls even if the experiment did not work?
Did the presenters have ideas about how to proceed?