Practical skills in biology

561 Pages·2016·15.972 MB·English

by  Jones, Allan M., Reed, Robert H., Weyers, Jonathan D. B.

Practical Skills in Biology
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Practical Skills in Biology
Sixth Edition
Allan Jones
Rob Reed
Jonathan Weyers
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Pearson Education Limited
Edinburgh Gate
Harlow CM20 2JE
United Kingdom
Tel: [phone]
Web: www.pearson.com/uk
First published 1994 (print)
Second edition 1998 (print)
Third edition 2003 (print)
Fourth edition 2007 (print)
Fifth edition 2012 (print and electronic)
Sixth edition published 2016 (print and electronic)
© Pearson Education Limited 1994, 2007 (print)
© Pearson Education Limited 2012, 2016 (print and electronic)
The rights of Jonathan D.B. Weyers, Allan M. Jones and Robert Reed to be identified as authors
of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
The print publication is protected by copyright. Prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a
retrieval system, distribution or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, m echanical,
recording or otherwise, permission should be obtained from the publisher or, where applicable, a
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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence (OGL) v3.0.
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ISBN: 978-1-292-09432-8 (print)
978-1-292-09436-6 (PDF)
978-1-292-09434-2 (eText)
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for the print edition is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for the print edition is available from the Library of Congress
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
20 19 18 17 16
Print edition typeset in Times NR MT Pro 10/12 by Lumina Datamatics
Print edition printed in Malaysia
NOTE THAT ANY PAGE CROSS REFERENCES REFER TO THE PRINT EDITION
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Contents
List of boxes viii
Preface to the sixth edition xi
For the student xii
Acknowledgements xiii
List of abbreviations xiv
Study and examination skills 1
1. The importance of transferable skills 3
2. Managing your time 9
3. Working with others 13
4. Taking notes from lectures and texts 18
5. Learning effectively 23
6. Revision strategies 30
7. Assignments and exams 35
8. Preparing your curriculum vitae 45
Information technology and learning resources 51
9. Finding and citing published information 53
10. Evaluating information 60
11. Using online resources 68
12. Using word processors, databases and other packages 78
13. Using spreadsheets 85
Communicating information 91
14. Organising a poster display 93
15. Giving a spoken presentation 98
16. General aspects of scientific writing 104
17. Writing essays 111
18. Reporting practical and project work 114
19. Writing literature surveys and reviews 119
Fundamental laboratory techniques 123
20. Essentials of practical work 125
21. Bioethics 128
22. Health and safety 136
23. Working with liquids 139
24. Basic laboratory procedures 145
25. Principles of solution chemistry 155
26. pH and buffer solutions 163
v
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Contents
The investigative approach 171
27. The principles of measurement 173
28. SI units and their use 177
29. Making observations 182
30. Drawings and diagrams 185
31. Basic fieldwork procedures 192
32. Samples and sampling 196
33. Scientific method and design of experiments 201
34. Making notes of practical work 209
35. Project work 214
Obtaining and identifying specimens 219
36. Collecting animals and plants 221
37. Fixing and preserving animals and plants 225
38. Collecting and isolating microbes 230
39. Naming and classifying organisms 235
40. Identifying plants and animals 240
41. Identifying microbes 247
Examining specimens and samples 253
42. The purpose and practice of dissection 255
43. Introduction to microscopy 261
44. Preparing specimens for light microscopy 265
45. Setting up and using a light microscope 271
46. Interpreting microscope images 277
47. Sterile technique 283
48. Cell culture 290
49. Working with animal and plant tissues and cells 298
50. Photography and imaging 306
51. Measuring growth and responses 313
52. Fundamentals of chemical analysis 320
53. Calibration and quantitative analysis 326
Environmental investigations 333
54. Ecological analyses 335
55. Analysis of aquatic environments 345
56. Analysis of soils and sediments 354
57. Measuring atmospheric variables 364
58. Measuring light 371
Advanced analytical techniques 375
59. Immunological methods 377
60. Enzyme studies 386
61. Mendelian genetics 394
vi
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Contents
62. Fundamental molecular biology techniques 401
63. Using stable isotopes 410
64. Using radioisotopes 416
65. Measuring oxygen content 425
66. Photosynthesis and respiration 431
67. Centrifugation 441
68. Spectroscopic techniques 447
69. Chromatography 454
70. Electrophoresis 462
Analysis and presentation of data 469
71. Manipulating and transforming raw data 471
72. Using graphs 475
73. Presenting data in tables 488
74. Hints for solving numerical problems 493
75. Descriptive statistics 504
76. Choosing and using statistical tests 515

Index 528
Companion Website
ON THE
For open-access student resources specifi cally written WEBSITE
to complement this textbook and support your learning,
please visit www.pearsoned.co.uk/practicalskills
Lecturer Resources
For password-protected online resources tailored to support
the use of this textbook in teaching, please visit
www.pearsoned.co.uk/practicalskills
vii
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List of boxes
1.1 How to carry out a personal skills audit 6
2.1 Tips for effective planning and working 12
4.1 Some abbreviations commonly used in note-taking 19
4.2 The SQ3R technique for skimming texts 22
5.1 How to diagnose your learning preferences using the VARK scheme 25
5.2 How to accommodate different lecturers' teaching styles 27
6.1 How to use past exam papers in your revision 32
6.2 How to prepare and use a revision timetable 32
6.3 How to revise actively 33
7.1 Problem-based learning (PBL) 36
7.2 Writing under exam conditions 38
7.3 Reasons for poor exam answers to essay-style questions 39
7.4 Strategies for combating the symptoms of exam anxiety 43
8.1 The structure and components of a typical CV and covering letter 47
10.1 How to avoid plagiarism and copyright infringement 61
11.1 Important guidelines for using PCs and networks 69
11.2 Getting to grips with e-learning 70
11.3 Useful tips for using search engines 72
11.4 Getting the most from Google searches 73
11.5 How to evaluate information on the Web 75
14.1 How to create a poster using PowerPoint 96
15.1 Tips on preparing and using PowerPoint slides in a spoken presentation 99
15.2 Hints on spoken presentations 102
16.1 How to achieve a clear, readable style 107
16.2 Using appropriate writing styles for different purposes (with examples) 108
16.3 Improve your writing ability by consulting a personal reference library 109
18.1 The structure of reports of experimental work 115
18.2 Steps in producing a scientific paper 117
19.1 How to analyse a topic using the SPSER approach 120
21.1 A step-wise approach to making ethical decisions 131
21.2 A step-wise approach to conducting ethical research 133
23.1 Using a pipettor (autopipettor) to deliver accurate, reproducible volumes of liquid 141
23.2 Safe working with glass 143
24.1 Safe working with chemicals 146
24.2 How to make up an aqueous solution of known concentration from solid material 147
24.3 How to use Vernier calipers 151
25.1 Useful procedures for calculations involving molar concentrations 156
26.1 Using a glass pH electrode and meter to measure the pH of a solution 166
28.1 How to interconvert values between some redundant units and the SI 179
30.1 Checklist for making a good diagram 188
31.1 Questions you should consider before carrying out a field project 194
33.1 Checklist for designing and performing an experiment 204
33.2 How to use random number tables to assign subjects to positions and treatments 205
35.1 How to write a project proposal 215
38.1 Differential media for bacterial isolation: an example 232
39.1 Basic rules for the writing of taxonomic names 237
40.1 Example of a bracketed key 241
40.2 Example of an indented key 241
40.3 Example of a multi-access key 243
41.1 Preparation of a heat-fixed, Gram-stained smear 249
viii
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List of boxes
42.1 Basic stages of an animal dissection 258
42.2 Tips for improving dissection technique 259
45.1 Problems in light microscopy and possible solutions 273
48.1 How to use a counting chamber or haemocytometer 294
48.2 How to make a plate count of bacteria using an agar-based medium 295
49.1 Sterile technique and its application to animal and plant cell culture 302
51.1 Mutagenicity testing using the Ames test – an example of a widely used bioassay 317
53.1 The stages involved in preparing and using a calibration curve 327
53.2 How to use a spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel) to produce a linear regression plot 329
54.1 Marking animals to study ecological populations 338
54.2 Measuring age in organisms 341
55.1 How to determine suspended sediment concentration 350
55.2 How to determine the BOD of a water sample 352
56.1 How to measure the bulk density of a soil or sediment 357
56.2 How to measure the organic content of soil and sediment samples using the loss on ignition (LOI) technique 358
56.3 How to measure the grain size distribution of soils and sediments by dry sieving 359
57.1 How to site a weather station and specific meteorological sensors 365
58.1 Measuring photon flux density or irradiance using a battery-powered radiometer 374
59.1 How to carry out immunodiffusion assays 379
59.2 How to perform an ELISA assay 383
60.1 Methods of determining the amount of protein in an aqueous solution 388
61.1 Types of cross and what you can (and cannot) learn from them 397
61.2 Example of a Chi2 (x2) test 398
62.1 How to carry out the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) 405
62.2 Bioinformatics–Internet resources 408
64.1 How to determine the specific activity of an experimental solution 419
64.2 Tips for preparing samples for liquid scintillation counting 421
65.1 How to set up a Clark (Rank) oxygen electrode 426
65.2 How to convert a chart recorder trace to a rate of O consumption or production 427
2
65.3 How to carry out the Winkler method for determination of dissolved oxygen in water 429
67.1 How to use a low-speed bench centrifuge 444
68.1 How to use a colorimeter 448
68.2 How to use a spectrophotometer 451
68.3 How to use a flame photometer 452
70.1 How to carry out agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA 464
70.2 How to carry out SDS-PAGE for protein separation 465
72.1 Checklist for the stages in drawing a graph 477
72.2 How to create and amend graphs within a spreadsheet for use in coursework reports and dissertations 480
72.3 How graphs can misrepresent and mislead 485
73.1 Checklist for preparing a table 489
73.2 How to use a word processor or a spreadsheet to create a table for use in coursework reports and dissertations 490
74.1 Example of using the algebraic rules of Table 74.2 495
74.2 Model answer to a typical biological problem 496
75.1 Descriptive statistics for an illustrative sample of data 506
75.2 Three examples where simple arithmetic means are inappropriate 511
75.3 How to use a spreadsheet to calculate descriptive statistics 512
76.1 How to carry out a t-test 521
76.2 Worked example of a t-test 522
76.3 Using a spreadsheet to calculate hypothesis-testing statistics 524
ix
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