Rationale

Today we aimed to devise a more clear and precise scientific question about the different tree types that the class will attempt to look more into. We will also collect more soil that pertains to the question at hand.

Procedure

1. The new group and I gathered soil from a red live oak tree near the Baylor Law School by first using a plastic spoon to dig down in the soil near the roots of the tree.
2. Place 6 mLs of the soil into a 15 mL conical vial and place more soil into a plastic bag. Fill the bag 1/3 of the way full and label “EAG 9/5/18 Red Oak Soil.”
3. Using a tape measure, measure the height of the tree, the circumference of the tree 137 cm above the base, and the average wingspan. Record the data.
4. Obtain leaves from the tree to place in the plastic bag along with your soil sample.
5. Place the plastic bag containing the 15 mL conical tube, soil, and leaves in the fridge to preserve.

Observation

Upon discussion from the class, we decided that each table group would come up with their own question to research rather than doing one question as a class. Group 7 and 8 will research if the presence of arthrobacter phage differs from white oaks and red oaks.

Tree height: 12.19 m

Circumference: 96 cm

Conclusion and Next Steps

Next, we will wash the soil to produce a direct and enriched isolation. From there, a spot test and a plaque assay will be conducted in hopes of phage presence. Using this data, we will be begin to look more into our scientific question.