Heads up Micro students..

I want to help someone from making the same mistake I did.

We had a 10 point quiz in lab last night on the water tests we've been doing for fecal contamination. (you know the one where a positive result is when the bacteria ferment the lactose broth and produce acid and gas..) Well on the last question she said to name 1 of the possible bacteria we could find with this test. Here's what I did NOT do, I didn't underline E. coli... Make sure when you write out the bacteria you remember to make the first letter in the genus capitalized and underlined with a period, and make the species lowercase and also underlined (or italicized), also don't underine them both with one line.. it's two seperate lines.

This is the first time I ever wrote the name of a bacteria and although I knew the answer I got it wrong because I didn't write it the proper form. One of my classmates wrote out the entire name of the correct bacteria but got the question wrong for not italicizing.. I didn't know that people actually italicized without a computer lol.. So just beware of the technicalities.

This was one of the first things we were taught, capitalize and underline or italisize when using the computer. We also had to spell everything correctly, i am the worlds worst speller but I can now spell just about every bacteria known to man!

This is the first time I ever wrote the name of a bacteria ...

Since you're talking about technicalities and because your teacher is a stickler (so was mine... we'd have been graded down for the same omission as yours), I'll point out that the term "bacteria" is the plural of "bacterium."

The good news is that the next time that you have to write the name of a bacterium, you'll not forget the correct format in which to write it. That's why you go to school -- to learn.

I know if I got that wrong on the test, others will have the same problem.. The teacher actually made a big deal out of it as we were handing in our tests. So I know I wasn't the only one.. I hope my mistake helps others in the future.. I know I appreciate any tips I can get. :)

This was one of the first things we were taught, capitalize and underline or italisize when using the computer. We also had to spell everything correctly, i am the worlds worst speller but I can now spell just about every bacteria known to man!

Yep it was one of the first things we learned too! Funny how important stuff can sometimes slip through the cracks! lol.

Oh and is it normal to italicize while handwriting or just typing?.. Maybe it's just that I've never seen handwriten italics.

Oh and is it normal to italicize while handwriting or just typing?.. Maybe it's just that I've never seen handwriten italics.

Nope. I've never seen handwritten italics though I'm sure some people can do it. When typing, you italicize; when writing, you underline.