Basic Laboratory Skills

Getting Oriented (Lab Policies and Safety) and Lab Unit 1 Handout (Lab manual)

Scroll below for In Person Labs

Be sure to check the Lab Schedule EACH WEEK before and after Lab. 

General Lab Information – Lab Unit Handouts will be provided for students to download and use on each of the Laboratory Unit Webpages. There is no Lab Manual to purchase. Each student will need to Register and Purchase the specific software (information and links found in the Lab Moodle “Start Here” section) to access our Online lab simulation modules.

Please read each lab unit before coming to lab. Most of the lab activities will be worked on as a group during your lab time. Work will be assessed during lab and will involve some sort of Post-Lab work to submit individually or as a group.  Be sure to check the Lab Schedule EACH WEEK before and after Lab. 

As you work through activities, you should answer all questions in your Lab Unit Handout.  Your answers will be submitted and reviewed by your TA.

We plan to hold all our scheduled In Person Labs BIO 181 labs throughout the semester.  If the University changes to all ONLINE classes, your TA will contact you and the In-Lab portion of lab will be held as a Zoom lab session during your regularly scheduled lab section meeting time.  Your TA may also hold office hours via Zoom (and/or in person).  Please access the link below to set up the Zoom client on your computer.  You will need to authenticate to be able to access the Zoom sessions. All of the instructions to get started and for authenticating are available at this site:
Getting Started with Zoom

Pre-Lab

• Download the Lab Unit Handout (see above link) and bring to lab on your laptop computer OR printed out on paper. Mac computers are also available in lab for your use.
• Read the following: Getting Oriented, Lab Unit 1 Basic Laboratory Skills (pp. 1-8), and Appendix A before coming to the first Lab Meeting. 
• Read the Safety Statement found in Getting Oriented. A paper copy will be provided in lab for you to sign and turn into your Lab Instructor.

In-Lab

Activity One: Basic Microscopy

• Complete Activity One: Basic Microscopy (p. 1-2)
• View the following video: Microscope Basic Set up and Use

Activity Two: Determining Total Magnification (p. 3)

• Follow the directions in the Lab Unit Handout to complete Table 1-1. 

Activity Three: Determining Field of View and Cell Size (p. 3-5)

• Follow the COVID-19 Safety Precautions for Compound Microscope Use if needed.
• Review of compound microscope care and use.
• Once in lab, students will use their own compound microscope and the letter “e” or newsprint prepared slide to Calculate Field of View and learn how to estimate Cell Size at different magnifications.
• A review of this method can be seen in the following video: Measuring with the Microscope

Table 1-2. Calculating Field of View for each objective on an unknown microscope.

TOTAL MAGNIFICATION	RATIO – 40/TOTAL MAGNIFICATION	CALCULATED FIELD OF VIEW = (RATIO)(OBSERVATION AT 40X) MM
(example) 40X	(40/40) = 1	(1)(field of view measured at 40X total mag.)
100X
400X
1000X

Activity Four: Examining Live Specimens (p. 5-8).  “Organism X”. 

1. You will need the knowledge/skills from Activities 1-3 to effectively participate in Activity 4.  Your TA will assign your table a particular Protist to investigate as Organism X.
2. Read the introduction to Activity 4.  Each student will make their own slide of their assigned “Organism X”.
3. In step #3 you should draw and record observations about the organism (p. 7). Observations are statements determined by using any one of a person’s five senses (empirical reasoning). It is typically the first step in the Scientific Method and can lead to hypotheses.
4. Record your individual observations,
   • Label all notes and drawings with date, time, and place.
   • Record all results as you observe/collect them; don’t rely on memory.
   • Make sure to record what you SEE, not what you THINK should be there.
   • Detail is key, pay attention to even the smallest things.
5. Once each group member has recorded their OWN observations, you will compare your observations with other students in your group. As a group, you will need to write a more comprehensive description of your groups organism (Table 1-3 Group Description of Organism X on page 8) on a piece of paper that you can swap share with another group for making an identification of Organism X.  These group observations cannot include any pictures or diagrams.   
6. Another group will use your written description to identify the organism based solely on your written information (no sketches or pictures) and a set of microscope images of many possible protist species provided by your TA.
7. If the other group cannot correctly identify your organism based on your group description, you will need to revise (edit) your descriptions until the correct organism is identified.
8. Groups should be prepared to defend the identification choice of the unknown organism.
9. Thoughtful and precise scientific communication is key to this activity and to all your laboratory work this semester.  It is also vital to the peer review process – be it for class work or for publishing scientific literature.

Post-Lab

For the next In Person Lab…… Unit 3 Scientific Methods

Introduction of the Semester Group Ecology Project

Fieldwork Sampling Safety – Important Safety points to consider with the Group Ecology Project.

Additional Information

The Compound Light Microscope

Microscopy:

• Care and Use of Microscopes – See Appendix A  on the Lab Resources webpage(opens in new window) 
• Video on How to Use a Compound Microscope
• Basic Concepts of Microscopy
• Measuring with the Microscope  – how to determine the field of view and cell size
• Exploring Magnification: Power of Ten video  – from 10 million light years away from the Milky Way down to 100 attometers!
• Virtual Microscope

Download FREE access to the Microsoft 365 Application (Office 365). This is free for NCSU students. We will use MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint in our labs.