I felt quite stupid during Wednesday’s lab…but that is normal in a first year bio lab I am told! Well, I pulled out my 5 plates, which I had plated by possible plaque on. I knew that my -1 and -2 samples should have the highest concentration of phage on them. But when I looked at the plates, there was nothing! It was essentially just my lawn of M-Smeg. But then I pulled out my -3 and -4 plates, and noticed there were spots of clearing on them. I figured it was contamination and started preparing to get soil. However, I quickly wanted to check with Dr. Gibbon to make sure I was doing everything correctly. He quickly looked at my samples and said, “Wow, you have a lot of phage!” Thinking I knew better than him, I quickly proceeded to explain that my -1 and -2 samples should have a higher concentration, but they have nothing on them. Therefore, it didn’t work. He just laughed and quickly explained that I had so much phage on my -1 and -2 plates, that all of the clearings ran together and covered the entire plate! That is how my lab on Wednesday quickly turned from disappointment to excitement!