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!