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Lab
Reports for Biology 121 Lab
classes are important to achieve a better understanding of scientific
principles. Labs help you develop practical skills that employers are
looking for in their employees. For
example, you get to work as a team to complete tasks, and in a team you
can develop leadership and problem-solving skills.
You will also develop technical skills.
Technologically competent employees are something an employer is
always looking for. The
ability to communicate effectively and consistently in writing is
extremely important to your success as a student, a scientist, and as a
member of the community and work force.
Written lab assignments and reports are excellent opportunities
to develop your technical writing skills.
Written lab reports will also refine your ability to interpret
data and express data in graphical formats.
Therefore, the ability to process and present information with a
computer is a mandatory skill. Lab
reports also solidify your understanding of the experiments you perform
in class.
General Format for a Lab
Report
· The lab reports must be typed. ·
The lab report should be double-spaced,
with one-inch margins.
Double-spacing and margins allow room for editorial comments by
the instructor. ·
The parts of a lab report are: Title Page, Introduction, Methods,
Results, Discussion, and Literature Cited. Each section of
the lab report must have a subheading. · Graphs should be prepared with a computer if possible. Otherwise use graph paper. Follow the instructions in the "Lab Introduction" Handout for preparing graphs and tables. ·
Lab Reports are always due the next week, and will be penalized
by 1 point per day if late. Common Questions about
Lab Reports
If
I do the experiment with a group, does everyone have to write a report?
Unless stated otherwise, it is acceptable to work together on
data analysis, but you should make your own figures and write your own
text. If two people turn in
the same work, neither will get credit for it. How
long should my lab report be? Scientific
writing should be concise. Your
reports should generally be no more than about 4 text pages. Tables and figures are not included in this estimate. Rewrites?
The first lab report will be edited
and returned for a rewrite that will then be graded.
The subsequent reports will be graded as submitted. Parts of a Lab Report
Title Page
The title
must describe the lab experiment in approximately 8-12 words including
the independent and dependent variables (if applicable).
“Lab 6” does not describe the experiment.
“Investigation of Enzymes and their Activities” is more
descriptive. Your name as
author, the date, and the course and section number should also be
included. Introduction
·
Include a brief explanation of concepts covered in the lab exercise or experiment.
Your lab manual and textbook are good sources for this
information. ·
Put the exercise in context—Why did you do this experiment?
Why is it important? ·
Last, state a hypothesis. (Hypothesis is a way to state the expected outcomes of
an experiment.) ·
Statements that are not common knowledge must be cited properly.
See Literature Cited. Methods
Describe
your methods briefly. The
reader should be able to duplicate the experiment.
If you followed a procedure from the lab manual, you only have to
cite the lab manual and state that you followed the lab manual’s
procedure. You
do not need to duplicate the lab manual instructions, but you must
state any significant changes from the lab manual.
The same instructions apply if you use a procedure from a
handout. Results This
section has two parts. 1)
A written description of the results. 2)
Tables and figures. The
written description should summarize trends in the data without
interpreting why those trends occurred.
Interpretation belongs in the discussion.
The tables and figures should be referred to in the text.
The tables and figures must be thoroughly labeled and numbered so
you can refer to them in your written description and the discussion. Discussion
Interpret
your data and relate them to your hypotheses stated in your
introduction. Explain any
discrepancies between your hypotheses and results.
Discuss the biological principles or processes that explain what
happened. What could you do
to better test you hypothesis? Conclude
by discussing the significance of your findings. Literature
Cited In
scientific reports, the sources of information are always cited in the
text by placing the author’s name and the date of the publication in
parentheses after the statement. e.g.
(Vodopich and Moore, 1999) The
cited references are then listed in the Literature Cited section.
This is how a book should be cited. In the
text: (Smith and Jones, 1996) In the
literature cited section: Smith, D.P.,
and Jones, R. 1996. Biology Reference Manual.
Wm. C. Brown This is
how a journal should be cited. In the
text: (Nabisco et al., 1998) Nabisco,
H.J., Twix, T.D. and Hershey, Y.Q.
1998. How auxins
shrunk our plants. Plant Ecology. 12(3):93-102.
This is
how a world wide web cite should be cited. In the
text: (Author, date) In the
literature cited section:
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