Robert Bruce Thompson - Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments

In this group, youll learn the essential skills of using a microscope, mounting specimens (including simple wet mounts, smear mounts, hanging-drop mounts, and sectional mounts), and using simple and Gram staining to reveal the microscopic details of lifeforms.

In this group, youll build microcosmsminiature worlds contained in soda bottles and populated with diverse microscopic lifeand observe those tiny worlds over a period of weeks to months. Youll observe successionthe cycle of life as the microcosms grow and matureand test the effect of pollution on those microcosms.

In this group, youll explore the chemistry of life: acids, bases, and buffers, carbohydrates and lipids, proteins, enzymes, and vitamins. Youll also create and observe coacervates, nonliving cell-like structures that may have played a role in abiogenesisthe development of living organisms from nonliving precursors. Finally, youll extract and visualize actual DNA, build a gel electrophoresis apparatus, and use that apparatus to do simulated DNA analysis. (Or real DNA analysis, if the necessary materials are within your budget.)

In this group, youll explore some fundamental life processes. Youll observe carbon dioxide uptake in plants, determine the effect of light intensity on photosynthesis rate, and use chromatography to analyze chlorophyll and other plant pigments. You will investigate osmosis, the process by which nutrients and wastes are transported across cell membranes. Finally, youll observe mitosis, a process by which cells reproduce themselves.

Youll begin this group by sampling plant populations in a community, learning how ecologists track changes in the environment by observing changes in plant populations. Youll then learn how different organisms sometimes cooperate to the benefit of both by observing the effect of nitrogen-fixing bacteria on lima bean growth. Next, youll do air pollution testing for particulates by building, exposing, and observing particle traps. Finally, youll test soil and water specimens quantitatively for the presence of boron, a common environmental pollutant.

In this group, youll explore Mendelian genetics by testing a sample population for the ability to taste phenylthiocarbamide (PTC). Youll then analyze your data by charting that ability against family relationships to determine whether PTC tasting ability is heritable in strict Mendelian terms.

Youll begin this group by observing specialized eukaryotic cells, comparing and contrasting their features and structures. Youll then prepare culturing media, culture mixed bacteria species, and prepare pure broth cultures of each of those species. Youll then test each species for sensitivity to a range of antibiotics, culture an antibiotic-resistant strain, and retest the sensitivity of that resistant strain to the same range of antibiotics.

In this survey group, youll observe four members of kingdom ProtistaSpirogyra (algae), Euglena, Amoeba , and Paramecium which are simple organisms that have some of the characteristics of plants and fungi and some of the characteristics of animals. Youll use both live specimenswhich allow you to observe the organisms going about their business and interacting with their environmentsand prepared slides, which allow you to observe more of the fine details of their structure.

In this survey group, youll observe the structures and features of members of kingdom Fungi in the phyla Zygomycota, Ascomycota , and Basidiomycota using both live specimens and prepared slides.

In this survey group, youll observe members of kingdom Plantae (plants), beginning with the structures and features of the simplest plants, mosses and ferns. Youll observe germination of an angiosperm (seed plant) and compare and contrast the similarities and differences in the root, stem, leaf, and reproductive structures of seed plants.

In this final group of survey lab sessions, youll observe the structures of members of kingdom Animalia (animals), beginning with the simple invertebrates Porifera (sponges) and Cnidaria and then through Platyhelminthes, Nematoda , and