Microbiology

24/3/2016

Today there was a new lecturer who taught us microbiology. The topic was Acellular Organism which is virus. Dr. Fairol explained to us the topic using slides and showed us some models made by the previous students. The models were fascinating and they showed us that different types of virus have different shapes. They were not considered as cells because they couldn’t reproduce on their own but depended on the host. We also learnt the virus reproductive methods. The new stuff I have learnt in the class was the yellow or green mucus produced during flu was caused by bacteria but if it was colourless it was caused by virus.

Other than that, we also learnt about viroids and prions. Viroids only occur in plant while prions are misfolded proteins that are infectious. 

BMY 3001

21/3/2016
Today is the best lesson ever because we don't have to study but play games for the whole lesson. I'm from group one and we created a kahoot game for the classmates to answer. Although our game is not creative enough but I think some of the questions are quite challenging. Everyone was very nervous and trying to compete with other groups for the first place. Some groups even lost internet connection and missed some marks as they couldn't answer the questions. However, the game ended smoothly with the cooperation of the classmates.

Then we continued with the other games carried out by other groups like crossword,bingo, flip card, musical chair and racing with organelles. I like crossword game the most because some of the questions were quite challenging and we were competing with other groups for the speed to figure out the answer. I was quite happy that my group managed to win the first place for the crossword game and flip card game and second place for racing organelles and we got lots of chocolates and tidbits as the rewards. In the end, we have tie with group four.

However, I felt sad because its the last class with Dr. Wan. I really enjoyed Dr. Wan lessons as I can play and learn something new at the same time. I'm looking forward to Dr. Wan upcoming lesson.

BMY 3001

17/3/2016
 There was nothing special during this week. Dr. Wan went through the slides with us for chapter 3 Prokaryotes. I have studied the slides before but still there are some information that I have forgotten. Dr. Wan gave us a quiz on Monday and I managed to answer quite well although I didn't answered all correctly. I think the quiz was great as it helped me to refresh my memory. From the lecture, I remembered that cilia is mostly found in eukaryotes but not prokaryotes which is the first time I know this.

On Thursday, it was a normal lesson.Dr. Wan explained the slides and answered our questions.The thing that I remembered the most was Dr. Wan treat all of us a piece of brownies because one group won the kahoot game on Monday. The brownies was very nice and thanks a lot to Dr. Wan! The lesson ended happily.

Microbiology BMY 3001

11/3/16

This week we have learnt chapter 2 microscopy and some parts of chapter 3 prokaryotes. Microscopy was really a boring chapter that we had to know the parts of microscope. 

So, Dr. Wan ask one of the groups to explain this chapter in an interesting way . Well, it ended up in a quite interesting way but I couldn’t really get the message they were trying to convey. However, Dr. Wan did go through those slides with us and gave us an online quiz. It was really fun because it was like a game and we have very short time to think. 

Other than that, we also learnt about prokaryotes. This chapter was taught in a different way where I have to study the slides and drew a mind map first. During the class, we were required to drew a mind map as well as we were not allowed to discuss. So, everyone was running out to the front to write on the board.  However, everyone was trying to wrote down what they can remember so the outcomes were quite massive and not very informative. 

Dr. Wan then continued the class by discussing the information on board as well as  some slides. What I like for that class was we were introduced hydrothermal vent. Actually,  I saw that before in natural geography or documentary but I didn’t know what was that. There were some Archaea living there such as Desulfuvibrio vulgaris, Sulfolobus and others. 

 Desulfuvibrio vulgaris 

Microbiology- Reflective Journal

3/3/2016

I have learnt a lot of things in microbiology class although its just the first week of the semester. What was unexpected was we don’t study solely from the slides but we studied something around us and Dr. Wan always keep us updated. Dr. Wan used every single advanced technologies to make the lessons interesting like using tablet and camera to record the lessons and made full use of the learning spaces online for us to share our thoughts and learn new stuffs. Dr. Wan also never stop to amaze us by introducing a lot of new terms and organisms that we might never heard before. What impressed me were the watermelon snow and Thiomargarita namibiensis.

The watermelon snow looked incredible like a cluster of bloodstain on the snow but it tasted like watermelon. However, I have a question. Since it tasted like watermelon, can I eat it and will it cause any effects to me if I do so?

I’m also quite amazed when I know Thiomargarita namibiensis can be seen by our naked eyes. This is because we were told that bacteria were small enough that we can only see them under microscope. 

I really like microbiology class and I believe that in the future I will gain more knowledge than what I think I will. However, there were some feedbacks that the Wi-Fi in the classroom and hostel are too bad that we can’t access to the internet to search info, log in to certain learning spaces and watch video as we wish to. So, I hope that there will be some improvement to ease the learning process.