Solved by verified expert:i need someone to write the first section of the lab report which is abstract and introduction. the whole lab report is four pages so this should be no more than a page and a half.
photosynthetic_wavelengths_lab_report_sp18_final.pdf
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Photosynthetic Wavelengths Lab Report Assignment
General Guidelines for the assignment:
• Due to D2L Assignments Folder by 11:55PM the night before your lab meets – as a .doc or .docx
file. If you don’t submit it in the proper file format, you will be asked to re-submit it and your
assignment may be counted as late if the proper file format is not submitted by the due date.
• See Appendix G of the Lab Manual for overall guidance.
• Additional advice for writing lab reports can also be found under ‘Additional Resources’ ->
‘Advice_Lab_Report_Writing’ on the course D2L page.
• Report should be no more than 4 pages (not including graphs and tables). If more, anything passed
the 4-page mark will NOT be read and considered in the overall grade. These can be single or
double spaced, but keep it to a 12pt font and margins of 1”.
• Every person in the group is responsible for the entirety of the document’s content – each person
should read the whole thing before the group turns it in (you all get the same grade on the work).
o
If you decide to ‘divvy up’ the sections, this is the distribution you need to use:
§ Abstract and Introduction
§ Methods and Results
§ Discussion
The report should be formatted like a standard scientific journal article but should be written in a
way that a high school biology student would understand
•
Components of the assignment:
Full length lab report (100 points)
Abstract (5pts): 4-6 sentence summary describing the interest, approach, and findings of the work. The
abstract should be a brief, but not vague summary of the report that shows the importance of the test, what was
tested, how you tested it and what you found.
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•
Requirements
o (5pts) Aim for ~1 (relatively short and to the point) sentence per section of the report i.e.
introduction through discussion
§ Do not focus heavily on the methods or give unnecessary detail.
§ Only provide enough information about the methods to understand how they allowed you to
test your prediction.
Loss of credit if:
o Requirements stated above not met
o Incorrect format
o If I don’t know what you are testing, how you tested it or what you found after reading
o Abstract is too long
o Abstract has too many unnecessary details
Introduction (20): Importance & hypothesis (mechanisms) of the experiment and basis of the hypothesis.
How design allows for testing of hypothesis.
•
Requirements
o (5pts) One short intro paragraph that introduces the main topic/question and briefly talks
about its relevance:
§ Introduce photosynthesis and light in a broad context (why should anyone care about
this report)?
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o (5pts) One to two paragraphs (possibly three – as many you need to cover all of the relevant
information) that give the background information surrounding your hypothesis, including,
but not limited to, information supporting the mechanism of your hypothesis.
§ Provide background needed to understand how photosynthesis works:
• Introduce color and light: what is color and what is light?
• Introduce photosynthesis broadly
o How does photosynthesis work
o How does color and light relate to photosynthesis
o What are the inputs and outputs of photosynthesis and how does this
relate to the experiment being conducted
§ What is the purpose of the dyes in this experiment and how does this relate to
photosynthesis?
o (10pts) One final paragraph that (i) briefly re-states your hypothesis (including a concise
version of the mechanism that you’ve just laid out the background for in the intro), (ii) your
predictions that stem from that hypothesis and (iii) very briefly how you’re testing these
hypotheses.
§ Pull together all the ideas you’ve just explained in the preceding paragraphs to state
your hypothesis and predictions.
Loss of credit if:
o Requirements stated above not met
o Does not follow a standard scientific journal article format, not organized into paragraphs
o Missing a reasonable MECHANISTIC hypothesis (a explanation statement):
§ If you are missing a mechanistic hypothesis you will automatically
lose 10pts
o Incorrect statements made
o Statements of fact not supported by a reference (e.g. blue light has more energy than red light
(Smith, 2015))
o Important background elements missing
o Ideas do not flow logically
Methods (15): Basic description of technique. In-text and full citation of lab manual where appropriate.
•
Requirements
o (5pts) Basic description of the techniques in the format of a paragraph.
§ Do NOT list your materials. Rather, incorporate them in the techniques paragraph.
§ In-text citation of the lab manual where appropriate (and full reference of citations in a
‘references’ section at the end. Use MLA format).
o Includes justification for methodological choices (explanation of WHY you used these methods):
§ (4pts) Justification for choosing specific dyes (i.e. why is the dye you chose appropriate or
valid?)
• This should be a comparison of the absorbance spectra and should focus on the
context of using these dyes as light filters
• The graphs of dye absorbance will go in this section
• Refer to these graphs via graph numbers, that you assign, as you explain your
reasoning
§ (3pts) How many leaf disks you used and why this was an adequate number to test your
hypothesis.
§ (3pts) The volume of buffer in your beakers and why.
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•
Essentially any choice you made about methods needs to be justified as to how
that was ideal for testing your hypothesis.
Loss of credit if:
o Requirements stated above not met
o Incorrect format, section is not organized into paragraphs (a bulleted list is not acceptable)
o You include a LIST of materials
o Critical steps or materials not identified
o Important details left out (e.g. what is the buffer? What volume of buffer was used? Etc)
o Design/method choices not justified
Results (15): objective (“unbiased”) findings of the experiment. Direct observations only including a
summary comparative statement of data gathered in paragraph format with visual(s). Here is where you
present the data collected that allow you to determine whether your predictions were supported or refuted,
without presenting this conclusion. Tables, graphs as needed. Figure explanations must be present for each
table and graph provided.
•
•
Requirements
o (10pts) Quick summary of key results in paragraph format (i.e. which light had the quickest time
for floatation, do not interpret what this means)
§ Do not interpret here, just present the data that is necessary and leave the interpretation for the
discussion.
§ Report results that answer experimental question.
§ The results should be short and to the point, highlighting the important results.
§ Report unexpected results
§ You need to synthesize your data as much as possible to make it easily accessible.
§ A good rule of thumb is, if you don’t mention the result in the discussion, you don’t need to
write it in the results text
o (5pts) Visual representation of your results in the form of figure(s)/graph(s)/table(s).
§ You must select the best way to display your data.
§ Explanations (‘figure caption’) for each graph and table are required underneath the
graph/table
• The explanation should be descriptive enough that you could tell what the
graph/table/figure shows without having the visual.
• For example: Table 1: Time it took for five out of eight leaf disks to float in
various wavelengths of light. The leaf disks exposed to ______wavelengths took
the least time to float, followed by.
• Should only include indisputable, directly demonstrated items.
Loss of credit if:
o Requirements stated above not met
o Incorrect format, format not based on standard scientific journal article
o Subjective or extraneous material presented (i.e. Don’t make a graph or table just for the sake of
making it. If you include one, make sure that it contributes something.)
o Not enough visuals provided or provided visuals not the most effective representation of the data
o Absence of appropriate data
o Data is interpreted
o Absence of text summarizing key results in paragraph format
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Discussion (35): Interpretations of conclusions from results in relation to hypothesis/purpose (mechanisms).
The main goal of a discussion is to interpret your results, not just restate them in terms of whether they
support or reject your hypotheses (though you should do this here in order to actually discuss them). Be
sure that each portion of the results is used to address aspects of the question(s).
•
•
Requirements
o Paragraph 1 (5pts): Briefly summarize what your question is and what your results are.
o Paragraph 2 (10pts): Interpret your results and discuss why your conclusions are valid.
§ For example: what does it mean that leaves in blue light floated faster than those in green
light?
§ Why are your conclusions valid?
• Hint: think about the controls you used and your experimental design
o Paragraph 3 (15pts): Discuss the limitations of your experiment and/or sources of error.
§ Provide the TWO largest sources of error. You should not just state contamination or human
error. Things to consider:
• How well you used your controls.
• Look back at the questions on your planning worksheet.
§ Was your choice of wavelengths optimal?
• This would be a good time to look at the absorption spectrum of chlorophyll a
and your own dye absorption spectra.
§ If your results differ from your predictions, you must discuss this. You should propose one of
the following:
• Alternate biological hypotheses OR
• Explain the limitations of your experimental design and how you would design
future experiments to address (fix) these limitations.
o Paragraph 4 (5pts): Wrap up what your study shows and explain how it fits into a bigger picture.
§ Hint: refer back to your introduction and make sure you address why any of what you found
out matters to a broader audience.
Loss of credit if:
o Requirements stated above not met
o Incorrect format. Format not based on standard scientific journal article
o Important ideas not included/addressed
o No discussion for why conclusions or experiment is valid
o Incorrect statements
o Inclusion of ideas/material not arising from the work
o More than two sources of error discussed
o No sources of error/limitations discussed
Citations: This is not worth points, but if you don’t include a citation to the lab manual you receive a 20%
reduction in your assignment grade.
•
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Requirements
o You need to use MLA formatting in order to cite the lab manual. (The citation does not count
toward the four-page limit).
o Cite any references or citations in-text, i.e. (Dykstra, 2017).
o You must in-text cite and provide a full citation in the reference page for any statements of fact or
information that is not common knowledge.
Loss of credit
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o No citation of lab manual = plagiarism and a 20% reduction on the assignment grade
o Not including in-text citations for references in your references/citations section will result in a
10% grade reduction
o Provide information or facts that are not common knowledge without citations = 10% reduction
Cohesiveness (10): Effectively and equitably worked in a group and the work turned in read well, and was
seamless.
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Requirements:
o Everyone in the group should contribute equally and respond to efforts to contact (via email or
phone) in a timely manner. Using a Google Doc is a very effective way to do this.
o The paper must read seamlessly, with no major differences in style or voice.
o Turn in one evaluation per group to the assignment folder.
§ If you individually disagree with the group evaluation, you may submit an additional,
individual evaluation to the assignment folder.
Loss of credit:
o When reading the paper, it is apparent more than one person wrote the paper, meaning that it
is choppy blocks of writing that do not flow well together
o Group evaluation not turned in
Grading Rubric
You get this grade per
section
If your work shows me that you
90-100% of points
Outstanding, exemplary work Includes all elements specified and makes none of
the errors indicated in ‘loss of credit’. Work demonstrates superior understanding of
the material and concepts relevant to that section of the report. No errors in
grammar, punctuation or spelling.
High quality work Includes the majority of elements specified and makes at most
one of the errors indicated in ‘loss of credit’. Work demonstrates understanding of
the material and concepts relevant to that section of the report. Very few errors in
grammar, punctuation or spelling
80-89 % of points
70-79 % of points
Good quality work, performing at expected level for this assignment. Includes most
of the elements specified and makes 2 or more of the errors indicated in ‘loss of
credit’. Work demonstrates superficial understanding of the material and concepts
relevant to that section of the report. Few errors in grammar, punctuation or spelling
60-69 % of points
Work below expected level of quality for this assignment. Includes only a few of
the elements specified and makes 3 or more of the errors indicated in ‘loss of credit’.
Work demonstrates multiple misunderstandings of the material and concepts relevant
to that section of the report. Many errors in grammar, punctuation or spelling.
Below 60%
Significantly below expected level of quality Missing most of the elements
specified and makes 4 or more of the errors indicated in ‘loss of credit’. Work
demonstrates almost a complete lack of understanding of the material and concepts
relevant to that section of the report. Many errors in grammar, punctuation or
spelling.
5
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