The exercises in this manual are designed to accomplish a number of goals: First, to expose and engage you in the process of science, including everything from hypothesis formation to data interpretation. Second, to help you gain a deeper and clearer understanding of major biological topics. Third, to increase your familiarity with some of the basic techniques and instrumentation used in biological laboratories.
Accomplishing these goals will require that you be actively involved in the formation of hypotheses and experiments. In order for you to get the most out of this course you need to come to the laboratory well prepared. This includes having read the laboratory exercise and any additional assigned readings. Many of the laboratory exercises also contain questions that are designed to help increase your understanding of a particular concept. It is important that you take the time during the laboratory period to discuss these questions with your lab partner and your laboratory instructor. Do not leave the laboratory without understanding the concepts or ideas discussed during lab. The manual is designed for you to answer the questions in your laboratory notebook. Your notebook should include as much detail as needed to allow for a complete understanding of the experiments you performed. Your laboratory notebook and this manual will serve as your major resources for studying in preparation for laboratory quizzes and exams.
This manual is still a work in progress. We encourage student comments and input. Please give your laboratory instructor any comments or suggestions that you have. Hopefully, this will allow us to improve the manual in future editions. We hope that you enjoy the exercises and that you learn as you conduct the various exercises.