Structure of Photosynthesis Lab Report Your assignment is to write a full lab report over the Photosynthesis Lab. This lab report will be based off the experiment you designed and the provided experimental data. Below is a description of what your report should include and how it should be organized. Your report should be type-written in 12-point font, double-spaced, and have 1 ¼-inch left and right margins and 1-inch top and bottom margins. Spelling, grammar and quality of writing will count! Be sure to follow the formatting guidelines in the appendix section of your lab manual. All writing should be in the correct tense and in the passive voice (i.e. do not use the terms ‘I’ or ‘We’). For tables and figures, follow the Guidelines for Graphs, Tables and Drawings at the end of your lab manual. Remember, your lab report must be completed individually. Summarize the results in your own words and reference sources appropriately. Simply citing your source is not sufficient. All information must be paraphrased adequately and written in your own words. For more information regarding plagiarism, please refer to your syllabus and the USF Academic Integrity Policy. Title page • Include a meaningful, original title followed by your name, the due date, course name, section number and the name of your lab partners. Abstract (~ ½ page) Briefly describe the purpose of the experiment. Mention of the designed methods should be briefly provided, but specific details should be saved for the materials and methods section. Include information on the results, being sure to include actual data values. Discuss the conclusions that were reached and the significance of your experiment. Be sure to use the feedback received from your abstract assignment to help write this section. Introduction Describe the background information for the experiment that you designed, focusing on the environmental variable selected. The introduction provides information on what was known prior to the experiment. Use the questions below to guide your introduction, being sure to use appropriate transitions and write in a narrative format. This section must include references. Be sure to include correctly formatted in-text citations. (This section should be 2-3 pages long). • Provide general background information on photosynthesis o What is photosynthesis? o What organisms are capable of this process? o What is the equation for photosynthesis? o What factors can impact the rate of photosynthesis? Provide details on the specifics of how these factors influence photosynthetic rate. • Provide your experimental question and hypothesis. • Provide general background information on the environmental variable selected. To help guide you with this section of the introduction, please these questions: o What role does this environmental variable play in our earth’s system? Does it impact terrestrial habitats differently than aquatic habitats? o What direct impacts does this environmental variable have on biological and metabolic processes? 2 • How does the environmental variable selected relate to photosynthesis? o Does this environmental variable tend to impact specific photosynthetic organisms more than others? • In addition to photosynthesis, does this environmental variable impact cellular respiration? • Provide general background information on the model organism used for this experiment, S. obliquus. o Where is it found? o How is it classified? Is it capable of movement? o Are there any applications or technological advances that this species can be used for? • Set up your experiment. Discuss the significance of the experiment. Materials and Methods Describe the experiment you designed in a narrative form, in your own words. Be sure to include thorough details, incorporating materials into your methods narrative as opposed to listing them separately. Do not write your procedure as a list of numbered steps. Reading this section should allow another student familiar with the equipment and supplies to duplicate your design. Be thorough but concise – do not overwhelm the reader with minute details. Include any tables or figures (i.e. experimental setup) that can help you illustrate the details of your procedure and be sure to include details on how you analyzed your data. Remember that any included tables or figures must be referenced in the text. Write in the past tense. Use subheadings/sub-sections to better organize the section when necessary. If appropriate, be sure to correctly use in-text citations. (This section should be 1-2 pages long). Results Describe the provided results for your experiment. You will want to express your results in a narrative form. Please do not write your results as a list. Two tables and one graph must be included summarizing your results. One table and the graph should contain your quantitative absorbance data values. Your graph should be a scatterplot created using Excel. This graph should include data from all experimental conditions (for an example, see the light/dark graph and example data slide in the Photosynthesis PowerPoint). If appropriate, you can incorporate trend lines. Your second table should outline your recorded pH values as well as the qualitative/visual observations regarding the solution color change (i.e. pH) over time. Remember to reference the tables and graphs in your results narrative and include all necessary details as outlined in the ‘Guidelines for Graphs, Tables, and Drawings’ in the appendix section of your lab manual. You can include additional graphs, tables or figures if you feel it is appropriate. Please ensure that each table and figure has all components on the same page. You must include the following in your results description: • Provide the initial rate of reaction for all conditions tested • Describe the differences in values observed between your experimental conditions Do not draw conclusions or offer explanations; these go in the next section. (This section, not including visuals, should be 1- 2 pages long.) 3 Discussion Provide a complete and accurate interpretation of your data. Clearly state the conclusions in relation to the results. In a narrative format, please provide the following information: • What are your conclusions based on the provided experimental data? Did photosynthesis occur? What about cellular respiration? Be sure to explain how the data supports these conclusions. • Was your hypothesis correct? • What is the significance of your results? What real-world implications might your results have? Please use references to support your answer to these questions. • Identify potential sources of error. What could have happened during data collection that could have invalidated the results? • If you were to design the experiment again, what would you change/improve? • What additional questions to you have as a result of this experiment? Based off of your results, what are your future experimental directions? Use references to help guide this discussion. Your discussion should contain appropriate transitions, not just simply list the answers to the questions above. This section must use references. Be sure to include correctly formatted in-text citations. (This section should be 1-2 pages long.) References In addition to the in-text citations used in the body of your report, please be sure to include a reference section. The citation style used in the natural sciences is the CSE (Council of Science Editors) citation style. Please reference Guidelines for Lab Reports document in the Appendices of your manual for guidance on format. Direct quotes may not be used. All information used from another source must be paraphrased and cited appropriately (both within the text and the reference section). AT LEAST 3 different references are required. One of these references must be your lab manual. The additional outside references must either be a textbook or a scientific journal article, not a blog or other website. Tools used to locate electronic copies of journal articles that might be pertinent to your topic include ISI Web of Science (portal can be accessed through the USF Library website, www.lib.usf.edu) and Google Scholar (scholar.google.com). The library has a guide on how to get started on research and finding reference articles at http://guides.lib.usf.edu/c.php?g=741066&p=5301722. There is also an online textbook site at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books where you can search for textbooks dealing with your topic. NOTE: Wikipedia is an encyclopedia and is not an acceptable reference for this course. However, like any encyclopedia, it might serve as a starting point for research since Wikipedia uses citations and references. (This section should be ½ page long) Please beware! If you use outside sources for information but only list the sources in the reference section and not within the text, you will lose 50% of the possible points for that entire section of the lab report! Structure of Photosynthesis Lab Report Your assignment is to write a full lab report over the Photosynthesis Lab. This lab report will be based off the experiment you designed and the provided experimental data. Below is a description of what your report should include and how it should be organized. Your report should be type-written in 12-point font, double-spaced, and have 1 ¼-inch left and right margins and 1-inch top and bottom margins. Spelling, grammar and quality of writing will count! Be sure to follow the formatting guidelines in the appendix section of your lab manual. All writing should be in the correct tense and in the passive voice (i.e. do not use the terms ‘I’ or ‘We’). For tables and figures, follow the Guidelines for Graphs, Tables and Drawings at the end of your lab manual. Remember, your lab report must be completed individually. Summarize the results in your own words and reference sources appropriately. Simply citing your source is not sufficient. All information must be paraphrased adequately and written in your own words. For more information regarding plagiarism, please refer to your syllabus and the USF Academic Integrity Policy. Title page • Include a meaningful, original title followed by your name, the due date, course name, section number and the name of your lab partners. Abstract (~ ½ page) Briefly describe the purpose of the experiment. Mention of the designed methods should be briefly provided, but specific details should be saved for the materials and methods section. Include information on the results, being sure to include actual data values. Discuss the conclusions that were reached and the significance of your experiment. Be sure to use the feedback received from your abstract assignment to help write this section. Introduction Describe the background information for the experiment that you designed, focusing on the environmental variable selected. The introduction provides information on what was known prior to the experiment. Use the questions below to guide your introduction, being sure to use appropriate transitions and write in a narrative format. This section must include references. Be sure to include correctly formatted in-text citations. (This section should be 2-3 pages long). • Provide general background information on photosynthesis o What is photosynthesis? o What organisms are capable of this process? o What is the equation for photosynthesis? o What factors can impact the rate of photosynthesis? Provide details on the specifics of how these factors influence photosynthetic rate. • Provide your experimental question and hypothesis. • Provide general background information on the environmental variable selected. To help guide you with this section of the introduction, please these questions: o What role does this environmental variable play in our earth’s system? Does it impact terrestrial habitats differently than aquatic habitats? o What direct impacts does this environmental variable have on biological and metabolic processes? 2 • How does the environmental variable selected relate to photosynthesis? o Does this environmental variable tend to impact specific photosynthetic organisms more than others? • In addition to photosynthesis, does this environmental variable impact cellular respiration? • Provide general background information on the model organism used for this experiment, S. obliquus. o Where is it found? o How is it classified? Is it capable of movement? o Are there any applications or technological advances that this species can be used for? • Set up your experiment. Discuss the significance of the experiment. Materials and Methods Describe the experiment you designed in a narrative form, in your own words. Be sure to include thorough details, incorporating materials into your methods narrative as opposed to listing them separately. Do not write your procedure as a list of numbered steps. Reading this section should allow another student familiar with the equipment and supplies to duplicate your design. Be thorough but concise – do not overwhelm the reader with minute details. Include any tables or figures (i.e. experimental setup) that can help you illustrate the details of your procedure and be sure to include details on how you analyzed your data. Remember that any included tables or figures must be referenced in the text. Write in the past tense. Use subheadings/sub-sections to better organize the section when necessary. If appropriate, be sure to correctly use in-text citations. (This section should be 1-2 pages long). Results Describe the provided results for your experiment. You will want to express your results in a narrative form. Please do not write your results as a list. Two tables and one graph must be included summarizing your results. One table and the graph should contain your quantitative absorbance data values. Your graph should be a scatterplot created using Excel. This graph should include data from all experimental conditions (for an example, see the light/dark graph and example data slide in the Photosynthesis PowerPoint). If appropriate, you can incorporate trend lines. Your second table should outline your recorded pH values as well as the qualitative/visual observations regarding the solution color change (i.e. pH) over time. You can include additional graphs, tables or figures if you feel it is appropriate. Please ensure that each table and figure has all components on the same page. You must include the following in your results description: • Provide the initial rate of reaction for all conditions tested • Describe the differences in values observed between your experimental conditions Do not draw conclusions or offer explanations; these go in the next section. (This section, not including visuals, should be 1- 2 pages long.) Discussion Provide a complete and accurate interpretation of your data. Clearly state the conclusions in relation to the results. In a narrative format, please provide the following information: • What are your conclusions based on the provided experimental data? Did photosynthesis occur? What about cellular respiration? Be sure to explain how the data supports these conclusions. • Was your hypothesis correct? • What is the significance of your results? What real-world implications might your results have? Please use references to support your answer to these questions. • Identify potential sources of error. What could have happened during data collection that could have invalidated the results? • If you were to design the experiment again, what would you change/improve? • What additional questions to you have as a result of this experiment? Based off of your results, what are your future experimental directions? Use references to help guide this discussion. Your discussion should contain appropriate transitions, not just simply list the answers to the questions above. This section must use references. Be sure to include correctly formatted in-text citations. (This section should be 1-2 pages long.) References In addition to the in-text citations used in the body of your report, please be sure to include a reference section. The citation style used in the natural sciences is the CSE (Council of Science Editors) citation style. Direct quotes may not be used. All information used from another source must be paraphrased and cited appropriately (both within the text and the reference section). AT LEAST 3 different references are required. One of these references must be your lab manual. The additional outside references must either be a textbook or a scientific journal article, not a blog or other website. references. (This section should be ½ page long) Please beware! If you use outside sources for information but only list the sources in the reference section and not within the text, you will lose 50% of the possible points for that entire section of the lab report!
