Unit 1 Take-Home Exam: handed out Friday, October 2, due Monday, October 5 at the start of class

The printed take-home exam replaces the in-class Unit 1 Test. Work in pen and turn in the paper packet at the start of class on Monday, October 5. Paper only: nothing is uploaded. It is worth 1000 points in five sections:

Section A (400 points): multiple choice, open notes (320 points), then part 2 on how sure you were and why one wrong choice is wrong (80 points).
Section B (200 points): Your evidence. Answer from your own class records and cite where each record is.
Section C (150 points): BLAST walkthrough. Identify a bacterium from its DNA with NCBI BLAST, step by step. A computer helps, and a school library computer works. No computer? Use the printed results in the packet for the same points.
Section D (150 points): Draw the ELISA. Draw how an ELISA turns a target into color, then explain your drawing.
Section E (100 points): Watch my thinking. Your in-class first try and its revision, what still confuses you, and your AI Use Log.

First try in class: on handout day, Friday, October 2, the first 5 minutes go to packet page 3, START HERE IN CLASS, in pen, with no notes, and Mr. Mendoza initials it before you leave. Absent on handout day? Do it in class on the day you return.

Using AI: AI may explain a concept, quiz you, or define a word, and every use goes in your AI Use Log. Do not paste an exam question into AI, do not copy an AI answer, and do not let AI write any part of Sections B, C, D or E.

Turn-in talk: Every student has a short talk, about 2 minutes, with Mr. Mendoza about two or three of their answers when they turn in the exam on Monday, October 5. This is not a punishment. If you did not log AI use, or your answers do not match your class work, the talk takes longer.

Study with the Unit 1 Test Preparation page: work its three sittings (skills, flashcards and two self-checking quizzes) as you prepare for Section A, and use its skills checklist and glossary to check your own explanations. The study guide and practice test, with its own answer explanations, are there too.

Here's an example of what's due today

Disk diffusion and MIC lab

Wed, Sep 30, 2026 · Week 6 · Genetics of Disease (Medical Interventions)

Today's goal: Run a disk-diffusion test and connect zone of inhibition to minimum inhibitory concentration.

Learn first

What a finished product looks like

This is a model of the work you should turn in today. Use it to check your own: match the structure and the level of detail, do not copy it. Your data and wording should be your own.

Disk-diffusion data table

Completes: A data table listing each antibiotic, its measured zone of inhibition in millimeters, and a zone-size rank that is not a drug ranking, with a sentence on what zone size means for the same drug and its MIC.

Connection to MIC: a larger zone of inhibition means the antibiotic stopped bacterial growth even where it had spread thin and dilute, which points to a lower minimum inhibitory concentration (less drug needed to work).

Comparison, with its limit: C produced the widest zone (22 mm), then A (18 mm), then B (9 mm). Zone width cannot rank different antibiotics against each other, because each drug diffuses through agar at its own rate and each has its own clinical breakpoint, so this ranks the zones, not the drugs.

Antibiotic	Zone of inhibition (mm)	Zone rank (not a drug ranking)
Antibiotic C	22	1 (widest zone)
Antibiotic A	18	2
Antibiotic B	9	3 (narrowest zone)

Why this matters

This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: A data table listing each antibiotic, its measured zone of inhibition in millimeters, and a zone-size rank that is not a drug ranking, with a sentence on what zone size means for the same drug and its MIC.

Build yours step by step

Name the variables and include units.
Enter observations without changing the raw values.
Check labels, calculations, and patterns before interpreting the data.

Change it for a new task

Keep the structure. Replace the question, facts, measurements, and evidence. Then recheck units, vocabulary, and whether the conclusion goes beyond the evidence.

Also due today: Today you submit only the setup record (plate map, labels, predictions). A finished table like this one goes on the last page of your one debate PDF on Thursday, October 1, after you read your plate right after the John Carroll debate.

Turn in: Today, the setup record: plate map, plate labels with your period and code, and a prediction for each disk. On Thursday, October 1, the finished data table: antibiotic name, zone of inhibition (mm), and the zones ranked by size (not a drug ranking); plus one sentence on what a larger zone means for the same drug and its MIC.

Go to Schoology to turn this in.

Submit one PDF. Schoology attaches your name to your upload; on the page itself, write your period and code. Name the file: FirstName LastName - Assignment Title - YYYY-MM-DD.pdf.

Open Schoology PDF upload help

If you cannot get in, see Mr. Mendoza. Do not skip the work.

Claim ceiling: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about today's lesson. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.

Check yourself

WebXam problem for today's skill

One exam-style question that uses exactly what you practiced today. Try it before you reveal the answer, then read why each choice is right or wrong.

WebXam-style domain: CulturingSelf-check skill: Reading a zone of inhibition against its own drug's cutoff

In a Kirby-Bauer disk-diffusion test, antibiotic disk X produces a 24 mm clear zone and disk Y produces a 7 mm clear zone on the same bacterial lawn. Which statement do the two measurements support?

Tap an answer to see the full explanation. Nothing is recorded or graded.

Why this practice matters

It builds this reusable test skill: Reading a zone of inhibition against its own drug's cutoff.

Use it on a new WebXam question

Name the concept or data pattern being tested.
Cross out choices that violate that rule or the evidence.
Justify the best remaining choice before checking the answer.

Back to today's lesson