MICRB 202: Introductory Microbiology Laboratory, Section 1

Micrb 202 Section 001, Spring 2013
Wed and Fri 9-11 AM
Instructors: Sarah Ades and Ken Keiler
TA: Luke Brezovec

Course Description
Microbiology is cool (and important): From the microbial point of view, we are guests in a microbial world. Microbes existed at least 3.5 billion years before humans inhabited the planet. There are more microbial life forms on earth than any other organisms, and they can be found in nearly every environmental niche on the planet. Microbes play integral roles in biochemical cycles required for life on earth. Microbes play integral roles in our health for good and bad. In short, microbial processes shape us and the world around us.

Science is experimentation: Everything we know about biology was discovered by scientists posing important questions, formulating hypotheses, designing strategies to address the hypotheses, and drawing evidence-based conclusions. In this course, you will learn how to practice science, while exploring core concepts of microbiology. The fundamentals of the scientific method you will master in this course will prepare you to perform research throughout the rest of your education, to understand science as a discipline, and to become educated consumer of science beyond the classroom.

You will play an active role in this course. You will develop your own hypotheses and design experiments to test them. We hope that these investigations will help you appreciate the fun and excitement of doing microbiology, instead of just learning about what others have done.

Goal(s)
By the end of this course
* you will have a strong foundation in scientific inquiry and be prepared to apply these skills in future science courses.
* you will be able to evaluate issues in “real-life” making you a life-long educated consumer of science
* you will have the technical skills and fundamental concepts to address important questions confronting microbiologists in a variety of professions from medicine to environmental microbiology.