2015 Independent Research Project
Honors Biology
The independent research project is the culminating laboratory experience for honors
biology. It will make up the majority of your 3rd and 4th term lab grade. It will consist
of an independent project that you will work on in a group of 2 or 3. You will be expected to propose, design, perform and interpret your data to come up with a sound
conclusion that is supported by your own data and information from outside sources.
The project will conclude with the writing of a formal research paper, and the creation
of a poster that will be presented during poster night. During the planning and research
phases of the project, you will be expected to maintain notes and plans, and your progress will be periodically assessed. You will be receiving a timeline for due dates.
Project Theme
This year, the independent project will focus around microbiology. We will discuss bacteria, and other microbes, and learn how to identify, collect and assay them for sensitivity to various compounds. Based on this information, you will form a research question
that will form the basis for your independent project. The question should be one that
is interesting and that can be answered though experimentation.
Research Proposal - You and your group should come up with three research questions
which you will turn into proposals- each proposal should be roughly one page typed. The
proposals will be reviewed by Ms. Boehm, and one will be selected as your project. The
proposal should have the following components:
Experimental Question: A detailed statement of your question.
Rationale/Hypothesis: This part should explain what question is your experiment
trying to answer. Why is this an interesting question? If the answer to your question is no, will this answer still be interesting?
Outline of Experiment: This part will be a rough explanation of how you will go about
answering your question. What techniques will you use to address the question?
What would a positive result look like? What might cause a false positive look like?
What would a control be for this experiment?
Feasibility: Can this experiment be done at school? What background knowledge do
you need to know for this? You must provide background knowledge/research to
support the feasibility claim!
Once your proposal is approved, you will begin your research and planning. You will assemble a binder and keep a lab notebook that will contain your research plan, your data,
information obtained from outside research, protocols and other relevant information.
Your first goal is to develop your research plan. You will expand the outline of experiment from your research proposal. You will detail all the techniques you will need to use,
and the order in which you will use them. You will create/obtain detailed protocols for
all the techniques you will need to perform. You will plan the numbers of trials (minimum
of 3 complete trials), duplicates and controls that will be required to obtain usable data. Once you have completed your research plan, you may begin carrying out your experiments. Your group will have a maximum of 20 petri dishes to use for the entire
project.
Each group will need to bring in their own:
1. Lab notebook- to be kept in class
2. Sharpies- you must have one black color and one color of your class period
ex. Purple block must label all plates used with a purple sharpie
3. 1 liquid soap (to share, we wash our hands A LOT during this project)
4. Box of small Ziploc baggies- to keep slides, etc.
5. Large box of Q-tips (paper based shaft)
6. Roll of aluminum foil
7. Any other materials your group needs
Evaluation
Evaluation of the project will be based on several criteria (NOTE: these may change in
frequency and some may be added). Your grade for the project will consist of individual
assessments as well as group assessments.
Group Progress Report - Two times during the project (see timeline), your group will
schedule a review with Ms. Boehm. During this review, your instructor will look at your
progress, discuss with you your results, your hypothesis, and your future research and
writing schedule. You will be evaluated based on the thoroughness of your planning, experimental work.
Individual Instructor Evaluation – Ms. Boehm will make 2 evaluations of your performance based on your work during lab periods. This assessment will be based on your organization, cooperation, adherence to proper laboratory and safety procedures, proper
cleanup, and contribution to your group.
Peer Review - Each group member will assess the other’s performance. You will base
your assessment on the group member’s participation, contribution and willingness to
share knowledge and carry out agreed upon work
State of the Project Report – One time, in the middle of the three cycle project, your
group will prepare a power point update of your project. You will use this as a summary
of your background information, data collection, data analysis, relevance of data, and
bring up any issues your group is having with the project. This will be a time for your
peers to give you suggestions and help.
Formal Report - You will write a group report on the results of your experiment. It will
include all the elements of a scientific paper (abstract, introduction, materials and
methods, results and discussion).
Poster Presentation - You will present your data on a poster, which will be displayed during poster night. The poster should contain relevant information, and allow someone to
get a sense of what your experiment was about, and what your conclusion and data were.
Poster night this year will be Wednesday, May 13th at 6:30pm at the high school.
Experimental techniques you will learn about for the independent project
Microscopy
• How to use a microscope
• How to prepare slides of bacteria for observation
• How to stain bacteria to determine
- shape
- gram reaction
Culturing techniques
• How to plate bacteria on agar plates
• How to grow bacteria in liquid cultures
• How to streak for single colonies
• How to transfer bacteria aseptically from one plate or tube to another
• How to test bacteria for sensitivity to various chemicals
Preparation techniques
• How to make agar plates
• How to make liquid cultures
• How to sterilize equipment
Safety and Cleanup
• Aseptic Technique
• Dealing with spills of live bacteria
• Disposing of old cultures
• Cleanup of equipment and benches
DNA sequencing for identification
PCR
Gel electrophoresis
DNA sequencing
BLAST database