You are the science reporter for your local newspaper. Your editor asks you to prepare an article on a major topic within the general field of microbiology. He stipulates that in this article you need to include the following three things:
An historical timeline for the major scientific discoveries that has led to our current understanding of the topic.
A summary of our current understanding of the topic.
A projection of where the next major advance or breakthrough in your topic will come from.
Description
For project 1 you will do your background research. Specifically, you will choose a suitable topic, identify appropriate resources, and generate a brief outline of the article which you will prepare for Project 2. Your topic must fall under the following subheadings:
Microbiology and human health
Microbiology and the environment
Microbiology and agriculture
Microbiology and industry
Procedure
Consult your textbook to choose a topic under one of the four subheadings listed above. For ex, from the area Microbiology and industry, you might examine the use of organisms by the alcoholic beverage industry. More specifically, are you interested in wine and the grapes that produce it? You could investigate the actions of a fungus called "noble rot" or the cultures involved in the fermentation of the grapes. [Need help choosing a topic?]
Email your topic to your instructor for approval.
Once your receive instructor approval, do some background research on your topic to get more familiar with it. Using the Credo Reference and/or Britannica Online: Academic Edition databases, find 1-2 articles/encyclopedia entries on your topic that will help you complete your Project 2 article. You can access these databases from the Library's Background Information page.
Now that you have some grounding in your topic, find 5-6 peer-reviewed research articles that will help you complete your Project 2 article using the Library's OneSearch tool. OneSearch is found on the Library's homepage. Watch the OneSearch Tips video for assistance getting started. [Note: In OneSearch you can limit your results to peer-reviewed journals.]
You should now have a total of at least 7 sources to use for your Project 2 article.