Title : Soil Sampling for a Red Oak Tree

Date : 9/05/18 

Rationale:  

We first came up with a scientific question and found soil based on the questions our smaller groups decided upon. My group is testing Red Oak tree soil samples in hopes of finding phages in the soil. We are testing if there is a difference in the presence of Arthrobacter phages between two different types of oaks: red oak and live oak. 

Procedure: 

1. First the class had a discussion to narrow down a topic for our research question. 
2. As a class we then decided that each lab table consisting of 2 lab groups would decide on a topic to focus on for the question.  
3. After our small group, consisting of group 7 and 8, decided on a question to perform our research around, my group chose to find a red oak tree to collect soil from.  
4. We took a measuring spoon to dig the soil, a measuring tape to find the measurements of the tree, a 15mL conical tube to fill up 2 mL of soil, and a Ziploc bag for extra soil storage.  
5. I then labeled the conical and Ziploc bag SS, 09/05/18, Red Oak Soil Sample. 
6. We drove down to a place near McLane stadium and near the Baylor Law School, identified a red oak tree and each person collected soil from a different place around the same tree.  
7. We then put 2 mL of soil in the conical tube and filled around ¼ of the ziploc bag with soil.  
8. We then took measurements of the tree such as the height, the crown size, and the circumference, and filled out the online survey about the oak tree.  
9. Lastly, we also took a leaf sample from our tree, and placed it in the Ziploc bag with the 15 mL conical tube.  

Observations/Data/Conclusion: 

Previous Experiment Results:  

• The plaque assay plate that we had done last week produced negative results. The plaque assay plate looked like the top agar had been separated and therefore there were no signs of plaques on the plate. 

Red Oak Tree  

• The Red Oak tree seemed to be in visibly good condition. There were no broken branches or anything of that sort. One observation that we made while collecting the soil was that there were many fire ants around the area that we dug up the soil.  Also the place where I dug my soil there seemed to be small rocks. The top layer of the soil was dry, but as I started digging more the soil was damper.

Next Steps: 

• Next time we will be washing the soil and preparing it for the lysates to test to see if the soil we collected contains plaque, by observing if there is any plaque growth. This will help us to identify if there is any difference of the Arthrobacter phage with respect to the two types of oak: red and live oak.