Week 1: Orientation, Lab Safety (pp. vii-viii), Ex. 1--Lab Safety, Introduction to the Microscope, pp. 1-11

  1. Go over pp. vii-viii and p. 4 in manual on lab safety; go over lab procedures, waste handling, dealing with spills, etc.
  2. Have students sign two copies of departmental safety guidelines plus one copy of the one in the lab manual (p. ix). Collect the dept forms and the lab manual form and return to me.
  3. Sign students up for incubator tubs (1/group of 4) and lockers (1/group).
  4. Sign them up for microscopes (one per pair, if we have 12 working scopes). In a perfect world, they should use the same scope every week. If a scope is left in poor condition I want to be able to track down who was responsible.
  5. Have them sign a seating chart. Try to have groups of four that work together on each half of a lab bench. Assign the group a number or name.
  6. Demonstrate the use of our microscopes, identifying the major parts of the scopes and demonstrating a procedure for proper use, cleaning, and storage of the scopes.
  7. Demonstrate how to put a loop of yeast suspension on a slide, let it dry, heat fix it, and stain it. Have dried smears ready to stain to save time.
  8. Demonstrate how to prepare a slide with cheek epithelial cells (but they won't do this) by scraping with a tooth pick, placing on a slide with a cover slip, air dry, heat fix and stain. Provide a prepared slide of cheek epithelial cells for them to look at. They don't do this themselves! I will provide cheek cell slides as needed!
  9. Show them how to load the slides on the microscope stage properly.
  10. All these demonstrations take time! Talk while you are doing them.
  11. I am making Sharpies available at my cost (from Sam’s) to students who want to buy one from you at $.50 each. I'll get more if you sell them all. Just give me the money as you collect it. At least one student from each group should have one.
  12. Make sure students work in groups of 3-4 people as much as possible. TELL THEM TO ORGANIZE THEMSELVES BEFORE THEY START WORK!!! (Saves time in the long run.)

For preparations manager:
Calculate amounts of most media as follows (unless otherwise specified):
6 lab sections x 6 groups per lab = 36 groups (minimum--make enough for at least 39 groups)
(multiply all amounts given per group times number of groups and make a few (10%) extra!)

Lab Orders for Week 1

Cultures:
yeast suspension (yeast provided by Dr. Wilson)
Equipment:
Microscopes (at least 12 functioning)
Slides, cover slips, loops, toothpicks, paper towels, lens paper, bibulous paper, large beaker of disinfectant
Reagents:
stains