Science and

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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
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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 its a trap!
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THE WRITING BITS IN MICR3120

• THE LAB-BOOK
• LAB REPORTS
• identification JUSTIFICATIONS
• RESEARCH PROJECT
• proposal final paper

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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!
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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

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TARGET ORGANISM
BIODIVERSITY in .
SAMPLES
The K.I.S.S. Principle
PROCESSING
CULTURE
Select colonies
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THE PAPER !

• Title and Authors
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Methods
• RESULTS
• Discussion
• Literature cited
• Acknowledgements

Whats the Question ? What did we do ? What
happened ? Do we have any idea what it means
?
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Writing about REAL results
What are the tough things ?
We didnt get any results. It didnt
work. This is the answer.
YOU NEED TO DO THE PRACTICAL WORK TO
HAVE SOMETHING TO WRITE ABOUT. FUDGING DATA IS
HARDER THAN YOU THINK.
YES IT DID. BUT THE UNEXPECTED IS NORMAL.
ALWAYS? EVERYWHERE ?
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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
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TABLES are also writing ..
Isolate Pig Ox Ino Orn PIA
FTS1a Y -- -- B
FTS1b Y -- -- B
FTS2a Y -- --
FTS2b B -- -- -- B
FTS2c Y -- -- --
FTS3 Y -- --
FTW Y -- -- B
The Results are presented in Table 1.
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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 ?
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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 isnt really that
  common.)
• In good projects, students tell their story
• well, present data clearly, and step back
• and interpret and assess the outcome.

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A microbe in its natural environment, and a
microbe in culture, are not the same microbe.