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Science and Science Fiction: Writing up REAL research results ! Roz Stevenson and Deb Flett Molecular and Cellular Biology College of Biological Science MICROBIOLOGY 3120 Systematic Bacteriology A course with lectures and a laboratory, examining diverse kinds of bacteria and emphasizing practical laboratory skills. Capture, Care and Feeding of the Wild Microbe ..I still say it’s a trap! “THE WRITING BITS” IN MICR*3120 • THE LAB-BOOK • LAB REPORTS identification “JUSTIFICATIONS “ • RESEARCH PROJECT proposal; final paper LAB-BOOK Dear Diary - “a clear, complete, and timely record of your work “ Record – as legibly as possible - in your book as you work … not beautifully and later! Laboratory research project: • experimental research study • apply techniques from laboratory exercises • working in PAIRS • select ONE of two topics assigned • refine and plan the work • DO IT ! • write it up and report SCIENTIFIC PAPER FORMAT TARGET ORGANISM BIODIVERSITY in …. SAMPLES PROCESSING CULTURE Select colonies The K.I.S.S. Principle THE PAPER ! • • • • • • Title and Authors What’s the Question Abstract Introduction What did we do ? Methods RESULTS What happened ? Discussion • Literature cited • Acknowledgements Do we have any idea what it means ? ? Writing about REAL results What are the tough things ? We didn’t get any results. YOU NEED TO DO THE PRACTICAL WORK TO HAVE SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT. FUDGING DATA IS HARDER THAN YOU THINK. It didn’t work. YES IT DID. BUT THE UNEXPECTED IS NORMAL. This is the answer. ALWAYS? EVERYWHERE ? The isolates identified from the back of the hand, toes, nose, armpit and hairline of individual A and B: Staphylococcus hyicus Micrococcus kristinae Staphylococcus intermedius Staphylococcus aureus Alcaligenes Flexibacter chinensis Pseudomonas vesicularis Micrococcus luteus Micrococcus lylae Staphylococcus aureus subsp. anaerobius TABLES are also writing ….. Isolate # FTS1a FTS1b FTS2a FTS2b FTS2c FTS3 FTW Pig Y Y Y B Y Y Y Ox + + + -+ + + Ino -------- Orn --+ --+ -- PIA B B -B --B “The Results are presented in Table 1.” MARKING IT ALL What were the characteristics that suggested Flavobacterium and Aureobacterium ? You have many tables, but you need to use them to tell your story. You have not stated any specific objectives. Not clear where your samples came from. Well-planned study, carried out well and presented clearly. DOES ANYONE READ ALL THOSE COMMENTS ? WHAT IS LEARNED ? (by the instructors) LIFE IS SHORT …… • Focus the topics - limit the choice. • Explicit mark breakdown, checklists. • Self-editing and revising is rare. (And even Spell-Check isn’t really that common.) • In good projects, students tell their story well, present data clearly, and step back and interpret and assess the outcome. A microbe in its natural environment, and a microbe in culture, are not the same microbe.