Biology 303: Microbiology
La Salle University
Fall 2010

Microbiology In The News II

ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES

As we participate in this microbiology course new discoveries in microbiology will continue to occur. We will attempt to keep informed about some of the most newsworthy of these events.

You will be assigned one class day on which to report recent findings in microbiology to the class. On that day you will offer the class an approximately 3 or 4 minute presentation about some report concerning a recent discovery in microbiology that you read about in the popular press (NOT in scientific or medical journals) and that was published within one week of your presentation. (The report should present information about a new finding, i.e. it should not simply be a summary of old data.) You may use information found on the internet, but the electronic selection must have also been published in a popular, printed periodical and the article must be dated within the past week – preferably within the past two days. The topic you report must contain NEW information, i.e. it cannot have been reported by anyone else in the class (however, for example, it is acceptable to report on the same organism or epidemic as another student has reported, as long as your report offers new information). Your oral report should include:

a) background necessary for the class to understand the content and significance of the news item. This is an essential part of the presentation. The presenter should be able to explain ALL the science referred to in the article.

b) a cogent explanation of the news item.

The student (not the author of the article!) is responsible for the accuracy of the information presented. (Be careful! Some periodicals are not known for their accuracy in scientific reporting.)

Oral reports should NOT be read verbatim. The use of audio-visual aids (e.g. PowerPoint, overhead transparencies, slides, etc.) is strongly encouraged. If visuals will clarify your presentation, they should be included. PowerPoint might be an especially effective visual aid for some students. Feel free to seek assistance from BTMcP in preparing and presenting audio-visual aids. (This should be done in a timely fashion.)

After making your presentation, there will be time for questions from the teacher and the class. Your preparation should be thorough enough to allow you to adequately deal with these questions.

In addition to the oral report you will also submit a short (3-5 sentence) written summary of your news item. The summary will include:

1. a clear, thorough bibliographic reference for the article (and additional references for background if necessary)

2. background information necessary for the reader to appreciate the information

3. definitions of terms not familiar to the class (if necessary)

4. a summary of the news item with a clear indication of its relevance

5. (OPTIONAL) a list of references (possibly including URLs)

(See example on the next page.) Please follow the format illustrated exactly. The summary must be submitted electronically via email. Submit it to

mcphilli@lasalle.edu

as a WORD for Windows attachment to an email. The summary must be received no later than 24 hours after the presentation is given to the class. If you have used a PowerPoint presentation, email the presentation as an attachment along with your summary. All attachments (Word documents, PowerPoint presentations) should be submitted in an unzipped format. Summaries (and PowerPoint presentations) will be posted on the course web site so that all the students in the class can easily refer to the information.

Microbiology in the News: SCHEDULE

Students are asked to give their oral presentations on microbiology in the news on the following dates:

Thurs., Sept. 9	Rashan Lucas
Tues., Sept. 14	Erin Nugent
Thurs., Sept. 16	Clay Forshey
Tues., Sept. 21	Mike Yayac
Thurs., Sept. 23	Sara Ciaverelli
Tues., Oct5	Serge Kovalenko
Thurs., Oct.7	Kyle Finlay
Tues., Oct. 12	Meghan Kelley
Thurs., Oct. 14	Randy Kurzinsky
Thurs., Oct. 21	Chris Low
Tues., Oct. 26	Janel Paukovits
Thurs., Oct. 28	Nick Dundon
Tues., Nov. 9	Steve Contigiani
Thurs., Nov. 11	Alex Carranza
Tues., Nov.. 16	Brittany Studwood
Thurs., Nov. 18	Alex Jones
Tues., Nov. 30	bye
Tues., Dec. 7	bye

You may trade dates with another student. However you are responsible for determining that a presentation is given by someone in the class on the date you are assigned. If you trade dates, please inform the instructor. It is also possible to change your presentation date to one of the “bye” dates.

SAMPLE OF SUMMARY FORMAT

YOUR ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION, BACKGROUND, AND SUMMARY SHOULD FOLLOW THE FORMAT BELOW EXACTLY.

Smythe, Alexander. “Microscopic Life Forms Found in College Dorm Shower Drain Responsible for Poor Performance in Chemistry Tests.” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 20, 2010, p. 82.

Background: Bacteria are small, single-celled prokaryotic structures responsible for many infectious diseases (Microbiology: An Introduction by G.J. Tortora, B.R. Funke, and C.L. Case, 10^th edition, Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin/Cummings Publ. Co., 2010, chapter 1)

Definitions:

Procaryotic – pertaining to cells that do not contain a membrane-bound nucleus

Summary: Scientists have found bacteria in a La Salle University student’s shower drain. Because they were so small the student did not realize they were there until the scientist performed the investigation. The scientist suggests that while the bacteria did not make the student overtly physically sick, the bacteria might be responsible for the student’s poor performance in chemistry tests. Chemistry students throughout the country are anxiously awaiting confirmation of this hypothesis.

Reference: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Bacterial Waterborne Diseases (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/waterbornediseases_t.htm)

Presented by: Donald Jarman on December 25, 2010

Please, note: The example given above is cited for the sake of illustrating format,
not for illustrating good content.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Oral presentation (50%):

Criterion	Value	Score
Accuracy of information	5
Report is about a NEW finding	5
Topic appropriate to class (microbiology)	5
Terms used correctly; correct grammar; correct pronunciation	5
Appropriate background presented	5
Articulately presented; not read verbatim	10
Appropriate use of AV media; visual aids used appropriately to clarify concepts; visuals are clearly readable	5
Well-organized	5
Presented on day assigned (or appropriately re-negotiated)	5
Total	50

Electronic submission (50%):

Criterion	Value	Score
Accuracy of information	5
Appropriate background clearly presented	5
Clear, logical summary	5
Appropriate terms defined accurately and precisely	5
Terms used correctly; correct grammar & usage; spelling, capitalization, and punctuation correct	10
Bibliographic information for source complete and accurate; references clear, accurate, and precise	5
Correct format	10
Submitted within 24 hours of oral presentation with attachments in correct format (as appropriate)	5
Total	50

SOME COMMON MISTAKES

The following are common mistakes that students make that are easy to avoid. Check you visuals and your written summary to make sure these mistakes do not appear:

ERROR: Incorrect use of singular vs. plural forms

SINGULAR	*PLURAL*
bacterium	bacteria
coccus	cocci
genus	genera

ERROR: A living organism is equated with a disease

HIV is a virus, not a disease; AIDS is a disease, not a virus.

Vibrio cholerae is the bacterium that causes the disease called cholera.
(i.e. Cholera is a disease, not a bacterium.)

ERROR: The genus and species is not underlined or italicized or they are incorrectly capitilazed.
(Correct form: genus should be capitalized; species is not capitalized)

Correct: Escherichia coli OR Escherichia coli

Incorrect: Escherichia Coli OR Escherichia coli

ERROR: The name of a disease is inappropriately capitalized.

Correct	Incorrect
salmonellosis	Salmonellosis
acquired immunodeficiency disease AIDS	Acquired Immunodeficiency Disease
varicella-zoster	Varicella-Zoster

ERROR: The citation for a website is too vague (non-specific).

http://www.cdc.gov/ This site is so large that it does not help the reader find the information.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/waterbornediseases_t.htm
This reference leads the reader to a more specific and helpful part of the CDC site.

ERROR: The website cited is no longer available. Some news services post articles only for a few hours or days.