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Identification of Unknown Bacteria
Laboratory
Virtual Microbiology Classroom of Science Prof Online
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VIRTUAL CLASSROOMS
ID of Unknown Bacteria Lab Materials
This is the main page for the Identification of Unknown Bacteria Laboratory Topic of an 8-week introductory college microbiology class. In this lab, students are exposed to several means of identifying bacteria, including Gram, Acid-fast and Endospore differential stains. Students also get more experience with specialized media and learn about the API-20E test strip. The following links will take you to the Virtual Microbiology Classroom documents that you will need to prepare for lab.
The ID of Unknown Bacteria Lab materials include:
- Lab Exercise & Report word documents
- Laboratory PowerPoints
- lab notes articles
- links to images related to the lab
- additional links that support the lab material
ID OF UNKNOWN BACTERIA LABORATORY POWERPOINTS
The lab PowerPoints used in the Virtual Microbiology Classroom support the material in the related Lab Exercise & Report, and are designed to help introduce students to each lab topic.
HELPFUL TIPS: Some of the PowerPoint presentations are large files and may take a few moments to download, depending on the speed of your internet connection. If you are printing a hard copy of the PowerPoint, you can save paper by selecting Handouts (rather than Slides) in the "Print What:" drop down menu of the PPT print screen. Then you can choose the number of slides you want to have on each printed page. If the printed PPT presentation is to be used as student notes, it is best to choose handouts with 2 or 3 slides per page.
ID OF UNKNOWN BACTERIA LAB EXERCISE & REPORT
Each laboratory topic has an associated Word document. The Lab Exercise portion of the document provides a thorough explanation of the lab topic, as well as detailed instructions on how to complete the lab exercise.
- Lab Exercise & Report 3b: ID of Bacteria - version for inserting micrographs (HCR120)
- Lab Exercise & Report 3b: ID of Bacteria - version for hand drawn results
Students must carefully read the associated Lab Exercise & Report before participating in lab. A quiz will take place at the start of most labs to ensure students are prepared. See syllabus for the schedule of quizzes and due dates for assignments.
ID OF UNKNOWN BACTERIA LABORATORY IMAGES
The images linked here directly relate to the lab exercise and are designed to help you review and study that lab material while outside of lab.
- Microbiology General (see examples of API-20E)
- Bacterial Staining: Gram, Acid-fast & Endospore Stains
ID OF UNKNOWN BACTERIA LAB NOTES
Here are brief summaries of some of the various subtopics and concepts introduced in this laboratory, kind of like really good lab notes.
Microscopy:
Bacterial Stains:
- Gram Stain Procedure: Differential Stain for Gram+ & Gram- Bacteria Identification
- Acid-fast Ziehl Neelsen Stain for Identifying Mycobacteria & Nocardia Bacteria
- Endospore Stain Procedure: Differentiating Endospores from Vegetative Bacterial Cells
- Differential Staining & Bacterial Controls: Gram, Acid-fast & Endospore Stains
Bacterial Media & Culture:
- Differential & Selective Bacterial Growth Media: MacConkey's, Mannitol Salt & Blood Agar
- Cellular Metabolism: What Is Fermentation?
MORE ID OF UNKNOWN BACTERIA LINKS
- Streak Plate Procedure Animation: with narration from Sinauer Associates.
- Streak Plate Interactive Animation: from MSU. Test your skill to see if you can do a virtual streak plate procedure that produces isolated colonies.
- Gram Stain Bite Sized Tutorial: This is an extremely useful tutorial that shows, step-by-step, the Gram-staining procedure and the appearance of Gram+ and Gram- bacterial cells.
- Acid-fast Stain Animated Tutorial: Very educational video of the staining procedure.
- Endospore Stain Procedure: Instructions, illustration and table indicating color of cells at each step.
- API-20E Animation from Microbe Library.
- Reading the API-20E, a YouTube video from Dr. Kimmitt.
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You have free access to a large collection of materials used in a college-level introductory microbiology course. The Virtual Microbiology Classroom provides a wide range of free educational resources including PowerPoint Lectures, Study Guides, Review Questions and Practice Test Questions.
SCIENCE PHOTOS
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Page last updated 4/2012
- Microbiology 101 TextVook (Fun animated textbook.)
- Biology & Microbiology app from QuizMe.com
- Basic Microbiology Lab Techniques by TouchApp
- Microbiology Pronunciations from HippoSoft LLC
