12/7-12/8 The Making of Cheese (Part II)

Wednesday (12/7) Ilde showed Tomie and I the 3 quadrant inoculation technique, which Tomie posted a picture of. Using this technique, we took two new samples from each cheese and put them in the incubator. Then, we gram stained bacteria cultures from last week's plates (FYI: gram staining is a method for staining samples of bacteria that differentiates between the two main types of bacterial cell wall). We started off by placing 1-3 drops of DI water on a microscope slide and mixing a small amount of bacteria to it (using an inoculation loop), we did this for eight cultures. We waited for the slides to air-dry, then began the actual staining process...

Stain/dye with Gram Crystal Violet for 30 seconds

Rince with distilled water for 5 seconds

Use trapping agent, Gram Iodine for 60 seconds

Rinse with distilled water for 5 seconds

Use Gram Decolorizer for 1-5 seconds

Rinse with distilled water for 5 seconds

Stain/Dye with Gram Safranin for 30 seconds

Rinse with distilled water for 5 seconds


(Note: Only enough drops to cover the dried bacteria is needed)

We didn't get to slide eight because we left to meet with Mrs. Chapman to discuss our Projects for next semester and our experience at PC thus far.


Thursday (12/8) Tomie, Ilde and I worked with misroscopes to identify each of the bacteria. We checked if each one was Gram Positive or Gram Negative, then evaluated the shapes to determine the type of bacteria i.e. Spirilla, Cocci, Bascillus. We were successful in identifying most as either Staph or other type of Bascillus (I can't consult my notebook, which is at PC this very moment missing me). But there were some we couldn't i.d., even after consulting Rick and holding him captive for over an hour, and we weren't comfortable labeling them.

11/30-12/1 The Making of Cheese (Part I)

Two weeks ago Tomie and I started two small projects to try to make cheese...

Wednesday (11/23) we mixed a tablet of rennet into 400mL of DI water, then added 40 mL of it to four different beakers containing: a 400mL milk/buttermilk solution, a 400 mL milk/yoghurt solution, and two filled with 400mL of milk. We each had a milk/rennet solution but Tomie was responsible for the milk/yoghurt/rennet solution and I the milk/buttermilk/rennet solution. After stirring and covering the solutions we put all of them except the one with buttermilk in an incubator at 37 degrees celsius until the next day. The one with buttermilk was left at room temperature. (Note: We missed a step where we were supposed to heat and then cool the milk before adding yoghurt, buttermilk or rennet.)

We arrived Thursday (12/1) and drained the excess liquid from the solutions using a filter. The milk/yoghurt/rennet solution had pretty solid cube-shaped curds, the milk/rennet solution Tomie was responsible for looked like cottage cheese, while the one I was responsible for resembled cottage cheese but wasn't quite there, and the milk/buttermilk/rennet solution had a liquidy-yogurt consistency. The last thing we did was add Kosher Salt. (Pictures in written order, left to right)

The pH levels of the products ranged from 6.0-6.9. We took two samples from each beaker, plated and incubated them.

12/7/11

Yesterday was a pretty slow day, well its usually a slow day on Wednesday because most of the classes don't have any labs but this particular day was the slowest yet. There wasn't that much to do on this day because Josh told us that we needed to meet with Amanda to discuss what we have done in the lab so far, Basically everything we have done from the moment we got to Phoenix College by going of the blog post we have made. We looked at the cheese that we made and it didn't look like cheese, more like some oddly deformed piece of yogurt substance which was really disgusting because I really dislike yogurt with a passion the smell of it just makes me want to vomit. After we checked the cheese we made Matt told us to inoculate some of the cheese in a TSA medium  which is basically a jell like substance that makes bacteria grow we also learned how to do a 3 zone inoculation and it was fairly easy basically its just dividing the dish into 3 parts and then streaking it from one zone to the other but after you do the first zone you don't go back to it.

12.07.11

So yesterday was really slow. Mainly because we were waiting to speak with Amanda. What we did was look at the cheese we created. We forgot to lable which one was made with buttermilk and which one was made with yogurt. So Mat asks us to inoculate the cheese to see what bacteria was used. The one, we believed, was made with buttermilk seemed more like yogurt than it did cheese. The other one was starting to really resemble chesse, so that was pretty cool ( cause that was the one I made) =)

We also, kind of, learned how to do the 3 zone inoculation. I say kind of because our teacher, Ilde, showed us but did it wrong himself while doing it. But its ok because we still understood it in the end. Last, but not least, we all sat and learned about the rubric for out projects. We also got a chance to tell her about our expierences here and what we've done. Pretty cool. =0

This is the picture of the 3 quadrant technique from zone 1-3.

12/7/11

Today we were gram staining our plates we had made from our cheese and had made new plates using the 3 quadrant zone. When gram staining, it's pretty much almost vital that you get the times correct or else it will destroy your data and alter your results. They way we gram stained was using this substance called Crystal Violet for 30 seconds. 2nd, we washed it off using distilled water for 5 seconds. 3rd, we put on Gram Iodine for 60 seconds. Then washed again with the distilled water. Mind you that we used the little droppers in the bottles it came with so we did a few drops to cover the bacteria. 5th, we put on the Gram Decolorizer for 1-5 seconds. 6th, washed off with distilled water once more. 7th, put on Safranin for 30 seconds and washed it off, yet again, with distilled water.

I learned a new technique of inoculating bacteria and that's the 3 quadrant zone which we spread the cheese in half of the plate, sterilized the inoculation loop, spread the cheese in a quarter of the plate, sterilized the inoculation loop again, then spread the cheese once more over the last quarter. We then taped up the edges and stored it in a "special fridge".

Lastly, we meet with Mrs. Chapman to talk about our upcoming projects and what we have been doing thus far in the semester. :)

11/30-12/1/11 SAY CHEESE!

CHEESE!!!!! Making cheese might seem hard and it might seem easy, depends on the person. Having the Rennet tablet dissolved (rennet is an enzyme in the baby calf, sheep, goat that breaks down the mother's milk), we then poured it into a beaker with 2% milk to the 400ml mark using 40ml of rennet. We did this for rennet & milk, rennet & milk with yoghurt, and rennet & milk with buttermilk. My experiment dealt with, rennet & milk and rennet & milk with yoghurt. With the yoghurt, I just had a few tablespoons worth in the beaker.

After we had it in 37 degrees Celsius for a day, we then took out our results (see above) and drained each beaker to get the product. When that was done, we put the product back into the beaker and used Kosher salt. This looks like a Mexican cheese named cotija queso. (See right)

Then we have the cheese that looks like cream cheese for bagels. (See left)

All in all, making cheese isn't that hard but it's not easy either.

Lab Report Rubric

Registration Info for Next Term (Spring 2011)

Feed microorganisms oil so they can be full

Bioremediation

 Future plans for past, present and future disasters.

I was given an Oil Spill Bioremediation Kit to investigate that microorganisms can use oil in water as a food source. I thought it was interesting because the first thing that came to mind was "Why isn't this being applied to oil spills that have happened?" However, reading the manual+guide shared information about how the process of bioremediation has been implemented to oil spills, which saves the lives of sea animals, land animals, humans and marine life.Bioremediation is an interesting concept that I was introduced to since it is a way to clean up pollutants.

The question that I was given was, How can bacteria consume oil, and also how can they be beneficial when it came to oil spills?

My hypothesis was, Bacteria helps with oil spills by ingesting some factors or components of the oil, which as a result decreases the mass of oil. 

I learned some terminology that I defined which are the following:

• Bioremendiation refers to the use of living things to clean up environmental pollution. 
• Biodegradation is the breakage of oil over time that turns into simpler, nontoxic products by oil-degrading microbes. 
• Bioaugmentation is the process of supplementing (can be seen as "seeding") a population of naturally occuring, oil-degrading microbes with additional microorganisms. (This technique is used when the existing population of microbes in a contaminated region is not optimally suited to degrade the type of oil present. 
• Microbes are microscopic living organisms. 

 Excerpt from kit guide

 "Scientists recognize great potential in utilizing the oil-degrading properties of microbes to expedite the breakdown of harmful oil from spills."

A venue to the future...

As scientists continue to explore, especially with this process, it could lead to different things to clean up instead of oil. For example, everyday Americans put items in their trash, and that trash can goes to landfills. What if, if there aren't already, bacteria that can eat the trash to reduce pollution and garbage in our environments? Bioremediation is definitely something that I would like to continue to pursue and become more familiar with. 

12/6/11

Today I worked on getting my internship paperwork done and then i checked the PH on The Wine I made and then wrote it down in my notebook and the I labeled them to remember which is which.

11.29.11 - 12.01.11

Today we made..... cheese! We had to pasterize the milk (heat up) until 80 degree celsius then let it cool to 40 degrees. This wasn't the funnest process but we got it done. When it got to 40 degrees I had to add a spoon of yogurt and 40 mL of rennet solution. I then had to incubate the soon to be cheese at 37 degrees celsius. And thats it.

Take 2

I gave the bacteria extraction from soil another try to see if I had different results. It looked as if I contaminated some of my samples and didn't use the right amount of broth. The second time around was a bit easier and quicker because I am more aware of what to do and made sure that I was very careful (learned some interesting tips two weeks ago about the "do's" and the "don't's" when going through the process). I then worked on streaking the samples on four petri dishes and wait for the results to show.

11/22/11

Well to start the day i had to write down data from the yogurt experiment and then took some picture of my experiments. Then I started to work with Rick and started to staining my yogurt bacteria that grew in the TSA media plates. After that I learned about the different types of bacteria based on the shape shown in the microscope. My bacteria was bacillus gram negative.

11.22.11 Gilbert

So on tuesday I worked on writing up my experiments that I worked on the previous weeks. When we finished the write up josh told us to stain the bacteria that was in the our yoghurt experiment. The problem with that was that we didn't know how to stain them so he asked Rick if he could teach us how to stain the bacteris properly. After Rick taught us we each did one ourselves and the end result was pretty well. I could clearly see the gram positive Bacillus bacteria in my slide.

11.22.2011

Well this was a really short day but we did do a lot. To begin we started off rewriting the little experiments that we did in the past weeks. After that, we worked with Rick in staining our yogurt bacteria that grew in the TSA media plates. It was pretty interesting and the best part was I stained my hands more than I did the actual bacteria. After that we learned about the different types of bacteria based on the shape shown in the microscope. My bacteria was bacillus gram negative.

11/23/11

Wednesday, we didn't stay that long. We learned how to gram stain bacteria and look under the microscope identifying Spirilla, Bascillus, and Cocci. My bacteria had the most common Cocci within it's view. It was fun :)

Microbes Soil Isolation Project

Josh introduced me to a new project, which was to look for a way to isolate bacteria from soil. I researched several experiments, but then I was given a mini-lesson on how to conduct this experiment with the help of Josh and Matt. Several mistakes here and there, but I eventually learned how. 

Soil Project Continued (Microbes)

Samples of soil. One is directly from the garden, and another is from a path of soil. 

What I needed to keep in mind before using the "hood".

• Make sure to clean any contamination with Windex
• What goes in, it does not come out until it is closed and finished. 
• Make sure to wash hands!

First Experiment

• Obtain 2 different samples of soil (path and garden). *Make sure to label!
• Have a test tube racket with six test tubes + cap. 
• Have the "hood" clean with Windex and have paper towels ready in case of spills. 
• Wait for 5-15 minutes with UV-ray light to clean the "hood" from bacteria.  
• Turn "blower" on and light on and get ready.
• Have Super Broth and about 4 LB Nutrient Broth in the "hood". 
• Make sure to have all materials in the "hood" and do not take anything out!
• Add soil (2 will be garden soil, 2 will be path soil, and one with garden and another with path. *Use yellow loops (do not touch the loop!). 
• Once labeled (test tubes), add 4 (2 garden soil and 2 path) 5 ml of LB Nutrient Broth to 4 test tubes. 
• *Make sure to use a pipette and graduated cylinder to take out the Broth. If contaminated (Broth), use new broth and pipette.  
• Add 5 ml of Super Broth in each test tube remaining (2). 
• Note: when taking out media (opening cap), try not to open completely or else it may become contaminated.
• Take test racket to the incubator and wait for alarm or ask. (Maybe 1 hour). 

Experiment 2

• Repeat sanitary procedures. 
• With test tubes in the hood and 6 petri dishes, use loops to swab samples for each tube and apply to each petri dish. Swab the sample in the petri dish several times. 
• Label (turn over) with date, name, and media used.  

 Results 

 Example of 1 of the 6 with bacteria and other things growing.

Last Thursday we learned how to streak plates in the Bio Safety Cabinet (with the hood) so that there is a smaller chance of contamination. I streaked two plates with buttermilk, which I then labeled and let set at room temperature. Then I made a buttermilk 10mL/milk 200mL solution which I also set at room temperature. We watched videos on Fungi and many ways it can "save the world" with capabilities such as absorbing oil.
Today I arrived to find that the buttermilk/milk solution and plates were refrigerated. Richard demonstrated to Tomie, Alex, and myself how to stain bacteria (taken from our plates), how to tell if the bacteria is Gram Positive or Gram Negative, and to identify different types such as Cocci, Spirilla, and Bascillus.

Catalase Project

Matt chose a mini project for me to work on and experiment to find results. My project was to find was Catalase was and to see if it was in potatoes. Using Hydrogen Peroxide was the key to this experiment as it gave me results to the project. 

                                      The Catalase Project

 What is catalase?
Catalase is an enzyme normally found in many plant and animal tissues, and it's purpose is to destroy toxic substances which may be introduced into cells. Also, some cells use catalse to destroy cellular debris or worn out organelles.
 Credit: chem.lapeer.org/Bio2Doccs/catalaseLab.html

Further in Research
As I was browsing for an experiment that I can conduct, I came across a site that gave great info about enzymes, which I wrote down for future reference. I thought it would be helpful to keep in mind when working on this project.

• Enzymes have five important properties that you should know:
• They are always proteins
• They are specific in their action. (controls reaction/type of)
• They are not altered by the reaction. (This means that an enzyme can be used repeatedly. It also means that enzymes appear neither in the reactants nor in the products of a chemical reaction.
• They are destroyed by heat. (This is because enzymes are proteins, and all proteins are destroyed by heat.) Destruction of protein by heat (or under any extreme conditions of pH or salt concentration) is called denaturation. 
• They are sensitive to pH. 

Credit: http://www.sciencegeek.net/Biology/biopdfs/Lab_Catalase.pdf

 Experiment 
Once I found an experiment, I gathered my materials and begun.

• Procedure
• Label 3 large test tubes hot, cold and room temperature. 
• Cut (3) 1.5 cm^3 pieces of potato with peel removed. 
• Use a mortar and pestle to mash/grind up each cube.
• Place all of the mashed potato cubes into each labeled test tube. 
• Add 1m of distilled water to each test tube with mashed potato. 
• Place the test tube labeled hot in the hot water (100 degrees Fahrenheit) both for 3 minutes.
• Place the test tube labeled cold in the cold water bath (0-4 degree Fahrenheit) for 3 minutes.
• Leave the test tube labeled room temperature in the test tube rack. 
• After 3 minutes, remove the test tube from the baths and allow the hot test tube to cool.
• Add 5 ml of H202 to each tube. 
• Wait one minute while reaction occurs then measure the height of the bubbles in each tube in cm. 

   Before hydrogen peroxide has been added

Results
Once I did this experiment twice, I found some slight changes, but usually the same.

• 1st Experiment
• Cold temperature = 5.5 cm (0-4 F)
• Room temperature = 10 cm (73 F)
• Hot temperature = 2 cm  (100 F)

• 2nd Experiment
• Cold temperature = 10 cm (0-4 F)
• Room temperature = 8 cm (73 F)
• Hot temperature = 1 cm (99.9 F)

Overall
Overall,   I found out that potato indeed has catalase, and the results with this experiment was a nice way to see how it takes effect with hydrogen peroxide. "Under the influence of an enzyme called catalase, the hydrogen peroxide is broken down into water and oxygen."

11/16-17/11

Wednesday was a very long day because I helped out Alex with finding soil for his experiment but didn't know which soil to collect so it took us awhile. I had put the numbers from the inventory taking we did our first week. It took awhile helping Alex but it was worth it because I saw the garden.

Thursday we watch videos on fungi and how it can change the world. Then I tested out my experiment with rennet and milk forming cheese. However, I ran out of time therefore I have to redo it on Wednesday(11/23/11). I also took notes on hot to streak a plate so when it comes time, I'll now how to do it.

November 16 and 17, 2011

On Wednesday, I showed Matt my findings for my potato experiment that I have done in the past. I was told to redo the projects (because it is a good idea to do it twice for comparison) and this time he will be taking pictures of before the experiment has been implemented and after the results were in. This time the experiment went a bit easier because of previous experience and I was able to get the results rather fast. I compared my results from last time to the most recent and found somewhat of a difference, but for the most part things stayed the same as expected. After, I worked on another project, which is to isolate bacteria from soil samples. I went to the campus to find samples of soil, one from the garden, and another from the path. I was to work on the project the following day.

On Thursday (today), I continued with my project, but this time I was using the "hood" for the majority of the experiment. I struggled a bit because it was my first time using the machine, but I eventually got the hang of it after the mistakes that I made. I applied two different broths, one was Super Broth and the other was LB Nutrient Broth. I applied LB Nutrient Broth to four test tubes (2 in the garden samples and 2 in the path samples) and then apply Super Broth in one test tube (path) and another (garden). After I was finished, I left it in an incubator and watched two twenty-minute videos about "Biomimicry" and another about fungi. I really enjoyed both clips and took notes which I found interesting. Mushrooms can sprout out of ants! After the videos, I continued with my project and swabbed the samples to six petri dishes and then labeled them. I should continue to work on this project next week. This is the most exciting project yet, besides Aquaponics and Hydroponics.

10/10/11

I went to Robotics and got to use hands on equipment to cut open half globe of the world. Then i got to control one of the Robots. I also removed laptops from one classroom and put them in another classroom. I also put some DI water into the testing tubes of the Baby Onions. There was a slight change in the roots and i measured then and put them back. Then i wrote down the data I took into my notebook.

11/16/11

So today I checked on my experiment with the pinneapple and the jell-o and recorded the results and also started a new batch but this time I used canned pinneapple and concentrated pinnaepple juice. After waiting a while the results of the test were as expected that the canned one would not do anything because it was cooked and also the juice didn't do anything. After checking the experiments that I did one with eggs we hard boiled some eggs and put the egg whites in a test tube and after that we smashed the pinneapple and some mango to get it juicy and stuffed it in the test tube along with the eggs to see if the protein will also eat the protein from an egg.

11.16.2011

So today was pretty interesting. I started off with one Matts little jello projects. It is a little similar to what Gilbert did with his Jello pinapple project, except I used mango. What I basically did was create an experiment to see if mango contained the enzyme protease. Protease is an enzyme or type of protien that is, in theory, suppose to hinder the process of jello solidifying. What I found out was that there is a way to stop or inavtivate those enzymes, by denaturation, which means changes shape or structure of a protien, with out chaging what it's made up of. It is said that heat will permantly inactivate the enzyme protease in mangos. In my experiment I made 3 samples of jello, one control, one with fresh fruit, and one with cooked fruit. I will see the results tomorrow.
I did another one of Matts exeriments, which is one of his most smelly ever I have to say. We had boil 12 eggs, only to use like 2 of them. Put them in 12 test tubes and add smashed pinneapple to 4 test tubes and and smashed mango to the other 4, all of this is along with the egg pieces. The last 4 were our control with nothing but pieces of egg white. The reason of this test isto see if the same enzymes we tested before will eat though egg white, which is another type of protien. That is basically all.

11/9-10/11

Wednesday I was creating a box for a family for Christmas time and made about 28 tubes with protease and 28 tubes with lysis buffer.

Thursday I helped clean a cadaver, finished making the box on all 4 sides including the lid, helped pour media in small dishes, and watched a video about education and artistic ability dwindling.

11/15/11

So today I did my Jell-o experiment for matt but I have to wait until thursday to see how it came out. Today we had a little trouble with conversions from cups to ml so Jen, Michael and I googled it and decided to print out the table. I also took one of the new tech people Michael into the cadaver room to show him the bodies and showed him how to clean them by picking out the fungus and spraying the dis-spray. Jen tought me how to use the autoclave for the dry cycle and it was fairly simple. Thats about it, it was kinda slow since I was the only one that came to ineternship today. On 11/10/11 I help the robotics get an idea of how to build R2D2 from star wars and it was pretty fun because I personally like building robots, we kinda have an idea how to build it and I think its going to look great.

November 10 - Robo!

It was a different experience in internship. Instead of researching, working on a project, helping out in the labs, I went to a Robotics meeting. I've never been to a Robotics meeting before, so I didn't know what to expect (besides robots). After some time in the meeting, I started to appreciate people who deal with machines, tools, etc. because there were some procedures that were quite dangerous (sawing that could chop fingers), and also how mathematics is prevalent. It's great to see different perspectives and see how people with different passions (whether it is engineered-focused, medical-focused, etc.) impacts our lives. I thought it was an interesting day.

November 10th Meeting

Today we cut the globe in half and reset the base higher on the PCD3 Robot. We also fixed a broken PWM cable on Bear. Next week we will add plywood and build the body. Thanks everyone!

11.8 - 11.9

Well on Tuesday I made HE media. It was quite interesting because while I was making it, it was a dark almost black liquid. When I poured the plates, the liquid turned into a greenish purple. I also got to help another intern, Gilbert, with pouring MSA plates since I have been working a lot with pouring plates. I also researched what The Belmont Report was and who it was designed mainly to protect. Which is mainly childeren, elderly, people with disabilities, prisoners and people in the army. We also worked a little bit more on my project but realized that it still is difficult. We did however get past the calibration process, which is much more difficult then it looks. Today was kind of slow for us, mainly because Josh is so busy, but I started off with pouring plates of MSA. Then I had to bag the MSA and HE that was completely dry. We helped prep a lab practical and we also tore down a lab. Oh yeah, we also cleaned 3 of the cadavers.

NEW PROJECT!!

Last week my project was completly changed. i was trying to compare
DNA from two palo verde trees. I was able to succesfully extract DNA from seeds, the next step was to pcr the DNA and cut it with enzymes. Thing was i needed the sequenced DNA of the trees in order to know where to cut, and no one has sequenced it. So my project was stalled. Josh had me talk to Dr. Hayashi about it to see how we could proceed. We looked for the DNA sequence even more but we didn't find it. Dr. Hayashi then told me that i should focus on a smaller scale, so we went with bacteria. As of now theres not a set project but so far im going to grow bacteria from soil samples collected here at PC and a Tortoise habitad we have at my High school.

11/2-3/11

Wednesday I was real sick.... I was kindly asked to leave so I didn't do much at all.

Thursday was a little more productive since I felt better. Josh had me help clean 3 cadavers and when we were done, I had to fill 192 tubes with dionized water, 32 tubes with lysis buffer, and 32 little tubes with dionized water and protease mixture. Jasmine helped me because it was a hefty task.

11/8/11

So far I have been working on many little projects for a couple of labs. I created 6 slide sets of four slides each for Mrs. chapmans class. those slides were composed of interns hair. Basically I had 3 suspects and one of those is the killer and all you have to do is match up the hairs to the corresponding suspect. I also worked with josh on testing out a new and faster DNA kit from GenoSensor Corporation we have to use sybr green which was at a concentration of 10,000 and I had to dilute it to 2/10,000. The DNA kit failed because we didn't have the adequate instructions to follow so we basically did it by what we know and it didn't work. I'm also working on an experiment for matt that consist of pinneapple and Jello and what im trying to do is to see if the pinneapple will allow the jello to solidify it all has to relate to the proteins that each of those have. Everything else that im doing is just helping out and trying to keep everything organized in the Lab. 

11/3/11

I started on my little project and that was Determining weather Onion roots will grow faster with Miracle Gro in the DI Water and I'm testing that by having two controls that can determine if they grew faster or not. I had put 24mL of DI Water in 2 of the testing tube and then i put them in a tube rack. Then i got a scale to weight out the Miracle Gro and the first one came out to .155 and then put in in a beaker and then put 24mL in a test tube and then put in the beaker with the Miracle Gro then put it back in the testing tube and place it back in the test tube rack and then  I repeated the process for the other 3 except i added .005g to them such as the 2nd one was .160, 3rd one .165, and 4th one .170 and i labeled each tube and then placed a onion on top of each one including  the controls. Then put them in refrigerator. My Prediction is that the baby onions with Miracle Gro is going to grow faster than the control and within the the ones with Miracle Gro, the one with the most will grow faster than the others and the one with the less will slightly grow faster than the controls. After i worked on my little project i took care of finishing enrolling for the class and help prep a lab for college students in a classroom. 

Sorry...

I have been a little behind on my work so I kind of been slacking on my posts. It is my mistake and I will ensure that it will not continue to happe. So, what has happend from the last time I posted till now, is a lot. First, I started getting familiar with some of the equipment that I will be using for my exeriment. We realized that in order to use the equipment, I am going to need more than one person to operate all the equipment at once, correctly. I also helped clean a lot of the cadavers. I've became really familar with cleaning the cadavers and spotting the tiny spects of white or black fungus. I have also grown familiar with the correct process of wrapping the body after it is cleaned. Oh, Josh and I also had a little "expirement" of our own, that was not even close to sucessful. We made an agar media of BBL Mannitol salt, but that wasn't the difficult part. This type of media requires that it be auto-claved at a pH of 7.2 +/- 2. In order to get this, we had to add acids and bases as needed. This really didn't work out in one of our media mixtures in particular. The pH levels were off the wall and was increasing, for some reason, the more we added acid to it. We spent at least 30 minutes trying to understand why it wasn't working and finally just gave up and created a whole new batch. This one, however, was successful, and there I was, pouring away.

November 3, 2011

Today I started with a new project. The first that I needed to find was what bacteria was common in soil. It took me a while to find the bacteria because there was a lot of types of classes. However, I eventually found that it was Pseudomonas putida. I then needed to look for a protocol for isolating bacteria in general from soil. I'm still in the process of looking for a simpler one, but I did find one that was semi-easy. I will continue to look for an easier protocol to not make things too complicated. I'm interested in this project as I want to see the bacteria from the soil and see how many colonies of bacteria there is.

November 2, 2011

What I did today in internship was that I focused on my connection endeavors project that is required for school, and with that project I should speak with one of the mentors in the lab and discuss about problems/challenges in Environmental Science. One suggestion that was brought up to me was looking in-depth with soils and its toxicity levels. I didn't think about that before, and this has helped me start my research and having something to focus on. I think speaking to someone about it has definitely helped me.

0ct. 27 - 28/11

I learned about what Catalase is, and how to spell it. My job for Wednesday was to research what Catalase is and what its purpose is. I also went to look online for an experiment to see if potatoes had Catalase. It took me awhile to get everything gathered, but time ran out and I didn't have time to work on it.

However, on Thursday, I did begin to work on my project. I had a bit trouble in the beginning with the experiment, but I eventually got the hang of it. It took me awhile to conduct the experiment, which was to use three test tubes in different temperatures and see how mashed potato in each test tube was filled with hydrogen peroxide. The one with the most reaction and result was the test tube with room temperature. I recorded all data and will present this to Matt next week.

10/27-28/11

I did it again..... Well Wednesday we were split up and I was with Josh in the cadaver room and learned about a more concentrated solution for the body preservation. Then we were given a project to work on which was for me, the enzyme rennet acting with milk and what it produces. (hint hint.... I wonder how we get cheese...)

And Thursday we came in and went to room 114 and were working on our projects once again and later on, Josh showed us a video on some experiment that was taken about testing peoples' psychology and they're reactions. It was very informative.

10/18/11

We Cleaned The Blue Cadaver Bag and made sure their wasn't any fungus on it then We Checked All the PH Level on the PH meter by putting them in different solutions and then we work on research for our project...

10/19-20/11

O.O I forgot to blog for yesterday so here we go! Wednesday, I was cleaning the cadavers with Jasmine and Ilde. However, the 2 we haven't worked with were new so when we opened it, it created a stench in the room and burned Jasmine and Ilde's eyes. So we put those back and worked on others that we have done. Then afterwards, the 3 of us worked on solving solutions that were kind of a refresher since we haven't done these in 1-2 years.

Now for today, we jumped into going to another room and finishing up the solutions paper along with another solutions paper; one made by Josh another by Matt. It took awhile but with the knowledge and papers I brought from last year, Alex and I got through both papers with only a few confusions. I helped the others but they understood with Josh's help. Then I worked with Jen by putting E. Coli and Staphylococcus into tubes and learned the technique in doing it.

10/19/11

Today I was to label different cabinets, which I thought was fun because I got to use the text-print machine. I also had to number 68 cabinets using the machine, which was a bit time consuming but it was relaxing. Afterwards, I worked on a solution sheet which I had trouble remembering how to convert moles to liters and milliliters and whatnot, so it took me a while to familiarize with it. I didn't get it done, but I plan to be ready for the following day or ask several people so I can learn fast.

10/13/11

Today was more productive than yesterday. We came in and worked on our projects then Matt told us to go through the bags of garlic and break them off into individual cloves. Then worked on our projects again. Simple, slow day.

10/12/11

Very very slow day since there wasn't much to do with Josh being gone. I helped Jasmine and Ilde with the calorie paper and when they were leaving, found out it didn't save. I looked up a few questions for my project and that was it.

10.11.2011

So today we organized the test tube tray thingys. That wasn't so exciting but it got a little bit more interesting. We then had to clean one of the cadavers bags. By clean we had to remove the sheets, get a new bag and wipe down the big body bag. It was pretty cool because we had to move the entire body to a differrent rolling tray thing. We also had to remove all the cloths that are normally covering the body and face, so it was pretty creepy seeing the body bare for so long. After we clean the big bag and replaced the white smaller body bag we put the body back in it and covered it up with "body juice". That was pretty much what our day consisted of.

10/04/11 and 10/06/11

Well everything was pretty much routine. Helping set up labs and also cleaning the cadavers but on Thursday we found more of that black fungus on a different cadaver it seemed to have spread from the black bag to the burgundy bag and it wasn't as bad compared to the first time we saw it but it does spread quickly and grows rapidly in the right conditions. We cultured some of that black fungus to see if they are growing and they're and it seems like they're growing pretty fast. The culturing of the black fungus is going to be a side project that I have to keep an eye on over some time to see how much they grow over a period of time.

10/6/11

Today was slow. Jasmine and I filled the rest of the plates and we have 8 sets of LB, LB+amp, and LB+amp+ara. We did that for awhile then I worked on my story for the crime scene. It took us longer to do the 3 sets of LB and LB+amp with the 71/2 sets of LB+amp+ara because we didn't get used to it like today. We got the hang of it and it went quicker. Plus Jasmine, Ilde and I came early so I stayed an extra hour. :)

10/4/11

Well for Tuesday I was working with Gilbert and we had to blow the yolk out of Egg shells so that the Egg shells can be dyed and Also we prep labs and cleaned up a cadaver  and we also were trying to figure out how to find sheep blood cells thru microscopes. I also tested the Emergency shower to make sure they are working without any problems. That was pretty much it...

10/5/11 Experience

Yesterday I took a look at my terrarium to see if it needed water. Since it did, I sprayed about 6-8 times of water. I then started to focus on extracting DNA (my focus was to extract DNA from sage plants).  Since I already have researched the proper protocol for extracting DNA, I went to look for Rosemary plants, but I also had the option to look for sage plants. After I found what I needed, I was told where each equipment was so that I could start working on my project. I haven't started yet with extracting DNA, but I plan to work on it today if possible.

10/5/11

Yeah! Today was cool. Well, I think it was cool though it seemed like normal. Took a look at a new cadaver and took off fungus. Then worked with Jasmine pouring LB agar into plates. Then rehydrating ampicillin and arabinose adding ampicillin first then pouring more. After, adding the arabinose and pouring that into separate plates, we repeated this process until we had no more plates/time to finish. I think it was fun today. :)

10.04.2011

Well today was a pretty slow day. I typed up a test for one of the classes. After that, we looked into what I could do for my project. I really am excited with the project we have in mind. So basically, the project we have in mind is an experiment where I would ( or other test subject) drink a energy drink that is pretty high in caffeine. After that, I will give them a reaction test to see if and how caffeine effects an individuals reaction. I had to research caffeine levels in different drinks, how much he clicky-thing would cost (because that was the only thing missing), and if there was anyone that did the test before. I found a website that showed a similar experiment in depth and my homework was to read over it, become familiar with it enough to be able to discuss what the experiment was about.

Oh yea, after I typed the test I was also tested on how to determine sex by the pelvic girdle and skull. I did well on that but he also tested me in how to determine race which was more difficult. But I did learn some new things....

9/29/11

Today we cleaned the dark blue bag cadaver and as we were cleaning it we discovered that it also had the black fungus that was found in the black bag. So after we took out all the white fungus jennifer started collecting specimens of the black fungus then when that was done we sprayed it down with body juice like always. After that we started working on some bacteria experiment to grow bacteria colonies. We used E. coli and S. aureus I'm not too sure what the last one was called but it was something around those lines and we put them in TSA slanted with the cotton swabs. After that we started setting up some labs for some of the classes and Thats about it. Well at the end Josh quizzed me on the skull and pelvic girdle determining Sex, age, race.

Check!

Today I continued to work with Ilde on inventory and we've managed to check every chemical in a cabinet to make sure if the chemical was present or if it needed to be added. We found that there were many chemicals that were not listed, but it was interesting looking at the different types of chemicals that I've never seen before. There were some that I could remember learning about, and then there were some that I've never seen. The last shelf was the easiest, yet heaviest to transport and arrange because of its weight. I also made sure to check on my terrarium, which still hasn't shown any sign of life (hopefully next week!).

9/29/11

Today, different experience. Jasmine and I were taking pins out of the hearts and putting them in a foam collector thing (not sure what to call it). Then we put the hearts in individual bags and filled it with "heart juice" to preserve it. After that we put all the dissecting trays on a cart and put them off to the side and kept the hearts in the bucket in the bags.

Then Jasmine and I were doing inventory some more with classes we haven't done. However, there were classes in session so we had to wait awhile for them to leave. We got the rooms that weren't finished and struggled a little but got through it. Very good day :)

9/28/11 Experience

Yesterday I took a look at my terrarium to see if there was any life present. It appeared to not have any signs, but I did find out that the soil was pretty dry, which needed to be moist. Every time I come to my internship, I will make sure to first take a look at my terrarium and see how the soil is. I also researched protocols for extracting DNA and also was involved in checking if certain chemicals were available (inventory). Lastly, I refilled distilled water from their appropriate containers and the same with Windex bottles. Overall it was a productive day.

9/28/11

Today was more productive as Jasmine, Ilde (IQ) and I were taking fungus off the same body as before. Then I was with Jasmine and helped out with chemical inventory. I believe we got the less dangerous chemicals but it was fun all the same. Moving transformers and getting a feel of what the labs hold. It was a good day and much more exciting and "lively" then it was Thursday. :)

Course Details

Hi all,
Thanks for all the interesting posts! Here are the details for the course to help you fill out the forms.
AC

9/27/11

Today I started of by helping josh set up the agarose gel for Mrs. Chapman's class and also putting the labeled PCR tubes with the DNA in them. I did all that while I waited for Jennifer to get back from starbucks. When she came back we went to go clean the cadaver in the black bag and while we were cleaning  it we found this sort of black fungus type thing and it was everywhere so we sprayed the body with Dis type spray and then sprayed it with the regular "Body juice" like always. Once we finished cleaning it I help josh again by sorting the PCR tubes for the lab. Then I set up and experiment to determine which of the DNA was found in the crime seen so I made the agarose gel and then put the DNA into the little slot and after like 30 min we took it out and stained it with the fast blast DNA stain. The reason I was doing this experiment was to figure out if the DNA was still working after 24hrs of extracting it and it did work I found out that suspect 3's DNA was at the crime scene.

09.27.2011

Well today I was asked to make the TSA media and pour the media that was already created into the petri dishes. As I was finishing up my third and last 500 ml Maconkey media I noticed there was a dead fly in the solution. So I had to throw away around 20 of the completed dishes. After pouring the two TSA media, I made earlier, I started on 3 more 500 ml Maconkey media. After I put it in the autoclave, I helped clean the cadavers.

While cleaning the cadavers, we found a new type of fungus growing. They look like little black bugs but was interesting to see how fast the fungi had spread.

We then had to spray the body with concentrated dis-formula and finished off with the diluted "body juice".

By the end of that, my Maconkey media was done in the autoclave and there I was pouring another 20-40 of the dishes.

After I got that completed and I cleaned up my station, I went back to the Biology prep and they were preparing DNA gel stuff.

But when he got to the last one, he had ran out of the solution. That had ruined the last one and I had to go back and make the solution which was not so difficult. It was a 1% agros gel solution ( I believe). It was basically done the same as the TSA and Maconkey except we cant use water.

Today was pretty interesting, but was very fun to see what can go wrong in a lab.

09.22.2011

I started off filling the petri dishes with the TSA medium. The great part was that I was giving a chance to do it alone. It was a little frighting to be given so much responsibility but I got them all done in a timely fashion and by the end I was quite proud of myself. After pouring the medium they asked me to research different types of solutions ( percent, molar, normal, ect.)

I had trouble understanding Normal solutions so our mentor asked me to spend extra time learning it and when we come back, Tuesday, I was going to teach it to the class.

Something I am not looking forward to, just saying.

9/22/11

Today we finished up cleaning the last 2 cadavers. It was interesting because one of the bodies was fairly new and it had a distinct smell to it. After a while the "body juice" is so overwhelming it started burning my nose, the smell it had was stronger than the day before. After we were done with the bodies we made more "body juice" with josh and it seemed simple. When we were done with making the fluid we started researching about solutions, How to make a mole and molarity solution. We spent a lot of time there trying to refresh our memory on those concepts.

Wednesday and Thursday

My first official day of internship started with me on a laptop separating some 30 lab activities from one huge document into their own specific documents for different Bio classes. Then, Tomie and I learned how to spray down cadavers! It wasn't scary and it didn't make me sick (so far, so good). Thursday, I spent two hours with Jen sticking numbered needles into hearts for the Anatomy class. The students will have to name the part and/or area of the heart with the help of little labels that have clues like "shiny stuff" on the outside of the heart, which I think is called... visceral peritonium? I'll have to ask Jen about that and write it down. Anyways, my last hour was spent with the other interns learning how to make percent solutions, molar/molarity solutions, normal solutions and 'x' solutions.

9/22/11

Today was a day that was slow. I had the chance to clean around 200 microscope slides with the help of Ilde. We did that for awhile and when we were finished, we came together as a group and was researching on how to make a percent solution, molarity solution, normality solution and "x" solution. It was a slow day but we all have to start somewhere.

First two (official) Days

so where to start....ummm i know yesterday! yesterday I got a crash course on how to prepare media using TCA (Tryptic soy agar)and MSA (Mannitol salt agar). the last one had to be set to the right PH of 7.4. all of this was new to me since i had not being exposed to this level of chem and biology. so it was exciting. Today i got to clean microscope lenses, though not as exciting as making media i got to explore those microscopes and some of the slides Tomie had cleaned.

A New Start

Today I continued to work on grinding charcoal until I was completely done with the package. Afterwards, I started to create a bottle terrarium, which I found to be fun and something that I would like to do in the future at home to grow my own plants. The instructions stated that I will see results within days and will see growth in weeks. I also researched about moles and what exactly was a mole. I have knowledge of moles since Sophomore year, but I was a bit rusty in that topic since it has been awhile since I have taken Biology/Chemistry class. I will be looking more into moles and the solutions and formulas and whatnot. Lastly, I will be looking at prices for what fish will be helpful to keep snail population under control and also see what is contained in hydroponics.

9/22/11

Me and Gilbert worked together to clean 2 Cadavers and made sure they were put back the right way... Then we began researching on how to make a percent solution, mole and molarity solution, normal solution, and X solution and to give Examples... Also our intern is having us look up the Pelvic Girdle Skull and finding out weather it's female or male and Age.... Today at PC internship was a good day :D

First Day Reflection

As a Senior at Bioscience High School, I am ready to take on new challenges and have a great experience at Phoenix College. Today I started out with crushing charcoal with a mortar and pestle-like equipment (I got quite a work out by doing that). I was told that the charcoal would be used in an aquarium which I found interesting. I also learned what exactly was hydroponics and aquaponics, and I also found out that there is a brand called Terraponic. Hydroponics is the method of not needing soil for planting and aquaponics is the process of having fish and plants in the same area whilst helping each other out. Terraponic is a material and acts as a replacement for soil, which is reusable up to five times and is environmental friendly. I look forward applying my research into my project with "ponics" and learn along the way.

Today I did a lot and it was fun. I helped produce MSA (Mannitol Salt Agar) and it was my favorite since it was the color red. I did another agar which was with soy. Basically reviewed what I learned in my Biotechnology class from last year. Not to my favorite liking, helped out with taking fungi off of a dead body. Learned the procedure in wrapping and unwrapping up the body again. I also found out how to clean a microscope lenses and what not to use. All in all, it was a great first day.

What I did on 9/20/11

I started my first day in a lab grounding Charcoal and seperating beads and then I went into the Cadavers lab and sprayed the bodies down with some chemicals to keep the bodies from getting germs and drying out. Then I went back into the lab to separate equipment out of boxes such as PCR tubes and capless tubes and etc... turned out to be a good start off and a good day

About Me

Hi I'm Reuben Volanos and I am a Senior @ Bioscience High School and I'm interested in becomeing a Forensic Pathologist. I am now Interning at Phoenix College working in the Lab. My hobbies is playing basketball, football, Texting, Music, watching Movies and Buying Shoes... I'm outgoing, funny, like to kick it with my Bro's and go to the mall... I have been excited about this year and happy to say I'm starting to live my dream... :D

What did I do yesterday?...

Well yesterday, I didn't do much.

We filled multiple regular size plates with a TSA medium, ( I believe that is what it was called, or Konkey) I learned there is 3 different sizes of plates and this is one on the most made chemicals. I learned it is a differential medium and I also learned you can have either a selective or differential medium. I was also taught how to use the autoclave, which was quite interesting.

On a more boring note, I separated beads by like seven colors. It was very tedious and time consuming but I got it done.

Hi....

My name is Esperanza and I am the new intern for Amanda Chapman. I am currently a senior at Bioscience and the one thing that I look forward to becoming in the future would be pursuing a career in Forensic pathologist. I am a very dedicated person when it comes to my dreams. I am going into this internship with a hunger of learning. Well that's a little bit about me. =)

New experience

I have never touched a cadaver before and today was the day I did. :)   It wasn't that bad like I figured it would be. Today was a good experience I learned how to properly take out and put away a body and also how to maintain them with the so called " Body juice" . It seems simple and straight to the point, when covering the body the covers have to go from the left side first and then the right side of it and also be very generous with the "body juice". I can't wait to see what else awaits me. Oh yeah I almost forgot, how to differentiate from new and old cadavers "one looks like chicken and the other looks like beef"

With my eyes in shock, the glimpse turned into a vision

Wednesday marked the second of the 4 bodies I will have to experience during this internship. I didn't name him and when I was moving his body, the thoughts of panic didn't arise the thoughts of fear didn't arise, but the mortality of life did creep in and sent me into autopilot mode very aware of the environment but also very unattached while my mind wondered through the possibilities of what life holds for us all.

And then Jennifer made the statement " ooooh this one is juicy, you know his remains remind me of that pulled chicken "

Yes vomit followed by fear and panic rushed into my face as the thoughts upon thoughts ran through my mind flashing images of eating human flesh like animals to animals eating people still alive. 1 step forward and 5 back.

Looking forward to becoming "over" being squeamish, joshwesome also informed me that there are fetuses and tricked me into touching a REAL babies skull. I'm more and more appreciative that my major is technology and robots and not actually touching people. I hope. Like I said 5 steps.

As I prepare myself for the next 2 weeks of cleaning the fresher bodies I know that I will more than defiantly have music blasting and vicks rubbed on my chest so eliminate the environmental setbacks and contain the mental focus on not dropping a body on the floor. Until next time. G- money out!

Before complete vanishment, the moon allows one glimpse into the future

As a cherry to my day, I encountered my first cadaver of the greatest extent today. The blood rushed out of my body and was replaced with vomit and panic to the extent of being frozen in time. Beatrice, as she has now been named, was a girl who died of lung cancer and had at least 1 fake boob. She she seemed small but maybe a totally of 35 years old and 5'5 maybe an inch or 2 taller. But she was there to be studied and for us, she was there to be rehydrated and packaged like a fish out of water.

Te fragility of her body as the palm of my hand was resting on her spine and the occipital portion of her skull resting in my hand like a baby who no longer breathes sent me into auto- pilot faster then my living heart could beat. Jennifer and Josh were so cavalier and casual about moving Beatrice as if she was a big porcelain china doll yet I couldn't stop admiring the still lifelessness of this once vivacious female. Aside from the smell once she was wrapped my queasiness subsided and I was able to help but the image of her closed eyes and raw body will probably stay a nightmare in even my happiest dreams. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger right? Hopefully ;-) G-money OUT

Wishing for the sun, the moon begins to set on the horizon

So talking with Joswesome today was very reassuring. While I was tediously cutting dialysis bags into exactly 18 cm, I threw out the topic and he was helping me fine tune to biological details. He seemed rather interested either because it's not a normal project or by the fact that it can go deeper than I previously thought. Either way I'm excited he's excited. Now to impress Chapster...

Josh and I discussed that most importantly would be making sure that I have a good control such as similar school and life situations.

(A Job, 12 credit hours, Age, Family size, Amenities / material possessions, Etc....)

And Josh also mentioned people in sports as oppose to not in sports. But along with the control there is the participant requirements. I know I would have to have questionnaires and pretty much ask every single student so I can find the set of people who fit in my criteria. More importantly to the whole project is the data collection.

Participants would have to meet weekly with me and I would ensure and promise a confidence so everyone can feel at ease but also have the subjects each have a journal of information. Such as amount of sleep, studying, work hours etc...

Josh had an interesting idea of seeing if we can measure the stress of each participant as well. Between video interviews, first hand journals from each subject group, and the end of the semester results, the project would be amazingly thorough and hopefully accurate. Josh did say it's not in my best interest to be a subject myself so I'll take that as a sign to just be the scientist :-) hopefully it works out. I would love to be testing behavior sciences this semester. But if not I have back ups ;-)  G- money OUT :-)

Not a light in the sky but you know the darkness will end

SO, I was taking dance classes this weekend and wound up signing up for 10 classes. (only 70 bucks, STEAL) But that and then getting my reminder that i start Co-coaching a kickball team starting on the 13th, I realized i'm quickly running out of time. With my Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays blocked out because I am in class from 9 AM until 7 PM and then Tuesday and Thursdays from 9 AM until 5 PM, coach kickball on tuesdays 6-9 and dancing Thursday 5:30-7. I've run completely out of time, and I realize this while I'm hanging out at my boyfriends house and finishing some calculus homework. I just started this amazing relationship commitment and won't even have time to see him come closer to midterms and i'm swamped upto my chin in studying.

THAT LOOOOONG story, and shameless ego stroking, leads me to this research question:

How does your relationship status effect your studies and ultimately your G.P.A. ?

My first Semester of college, I had recently ended a very long relationship and put my energy into being awesome at school. With my G.P.A. at 3.8 currently, I feel very proud of how my efforts are being rewarded. So that leads me to ask the question my first of 3 semesters in single, great GPA, will that change as i try and associate more time to my boyfriend and ultimately less to my studies?

I, as well as my boyfriend Brian, am hoping that my GPA is unaffected if not raised by the end of this semester. Having him enthusiastically wanting to help me study for both my Spanish and Anatomy classes, as well as assist in any way he can with my research project, I'm fairly certain my hypothesis will be accurate. But how do other couples, in different relationship intensity, deal with the stressfulness of school, or are their relationships secretly self destructive?

So that's where I start and I'm going to talk with Chapster and Joswesome on Monday to see if this is the type of project i can do. It's not exactly anything that I'm studying but the interest is obviously personal and interpersonal relationships are the complete opposite of my studies but i would enjoy it greatly. So we will see how it goes. :-) G Money OUT lol

Pre dawn

Today was a easy and fun day. I met Matt today cuz I will probably be going to see him if I need help finding items for the labs. And I was assigned the research project which I'm very excited about. I would love to try cross pollenating fruits to get like hybrids of strawberries and raspberries or something super fantastic like a snozzberry ;-) but I'm not 100 percent sure I will have enough time to grow so many plants. But I'm thinking more about a project similar to my major, Bio engineering so maybe something robotish or muscle abilities of amputees. I'm not sure yet but my mind is racing with ideas. :-) I can't wait to get started.

Now to return to my studies this semester. Calculous, physics, chemistry oh my! Lol