Lab Report Guidelines Communication is necessary to disseminate information. In this regard beyond talking with each other scientists report

Lab Report Guidelines
Communication is necessary to disseminate information.
In this regard, beyond talking with
each
other,
scientists
report
on
their
work by
writing articles
on
their
findings
and
publish
them
in journals
that
other
scientists
read. The
main
idea
a
scientific
article
is
to
convey
scientific findings
that usually emerge from a hypothesis driven experiment(s).
The structure or format of these scientific articles is nearly universal irrespective of the length of the article.
The format
is a convention that guides the author as well as the reader.
At its most basic, the
format guides one through the process telling a story.
The
format
for
the



Lab Report
on
the
activity
of
enzymes
will
resemble
that
of
a
scientific
journal article with some modifications
.
The Lab Report will have a
Title, an
Introduction
, a Methods and Materials
,
a Results
,
a Discussion/Conclusion
and an
Appendix
sectioN.Each section is
typed in bold and start on a new page.
An Abstract summarizing the articleis not required although
they are
ubiquitous
in
scientific
journal
articles
.
References
and
Acknowledgments
(for
help
received
and
collaborations)
are
not
required,
but
may
be
included.
Each
section
is unique, different
from
each
other
, but
they
rely
on
each
other
to
convey
the story
.
The
Introduction
describes
the
reason for the article.
Include enough
background material to
gain
the
readers interest, much like
all good
story
telling does
.
For our purposes, limit the discussion of enzymes to the material presented in
class lectures and
in the textbook.
There is
no
need
to
look
for
additional
information
on
enzymes
unless
you
are
so
driven, but
be warned, the amount of information is overwhelming.
At the end of the Introduction, list the
hypotheses for all parts or experiments in
the study.
The Methods and Materials
describes all the steps taken to perform the experiments.
The
purpose
of
this
section
is
to
allow
someone
else
to
replicate
your
work.
Therefore,
all
chemicals
or
reagents,
their
concentration,
how
they
were
mixed
together
and
the
instrumentation used must be noted.
There is no need to explain how an instrument works
unless it is a newly developed one.
For instance, one c
an assume that the reader knows how
to operate a spectrophotometer.
This section is the near equivalent of a cook book to a chef.
If there are five experiments, then provide instructions for replicating all five experiments.

The Results section
contains the study
data only
.Present the raw
data
and any transformation of the raw data.
Figures and tables
are ideal for presenting the data because
pictures convey information more easily than words.
Label all figures, tables and images with a title, a very brief description of the data
, and an explanation of
specific components of the image that important
for
interpreting
the
data.
Introduce each figure or table in
the
text.
Presenting a figure or table without
any text is a serious mistake
–you are asking the reader to read your mind and intentions.
Avoid the temptation
of
explaining the data in this section
–this comes later in the Discussion/Conclusion section.
However, you may explain that one or two points in the data were omitted in a figure or table due to some mishap during the data
collection-this is perfectly acceptable. Remember, the focus of this section is the data, and only the data.




The Discussion/Conclusion
section
is
where
you interpret your findings
and results.First, restate the goals of the study.
Second, interpret that data by considering whether the data from the experiments support your hypotheses stated in the Introduction
.
Third,
synthesize all the data or observations in the
study.
Do the results fit what you know about enzymes and what you expected?
The data
make sense with your knowledge and expectations.
Discuss whether it does or does not.
Fourth,discuss how future work may address any weaknesses
in the experiments performed,and suggest possible studies that will build on the knowledge
gained from these studies.
Lastly, make a final conclusion about the observations in your lab and how they fit the topic.
A Reference section
is
included
if
you
wish
to
cite
any
literature
such as
your
textbook,
the lab or any other source material.It is not required for this assignment.
An Acknowledgement
section is included if you wish to
thank anyone who provided you some unique reagents,or help in the writing of the text.It is not required for this assignment.
There are questions in the lab manual after each experiment
.
You must address these
within the appropriate section of the
Lab Report.
Figure out where the answer to each question fits in
the Lab Report format discussed above before you start writing
.
The
Lab
Report
should
be
a minimum of 8
typed pages of text
(excluding
figures,
tables, illustrations, or other images), double spaced,
and 10pt.–12 pt.font.
The Introduction (min. 1.page of text),
Methods and Materials
(min. 4page of text), Results (min. 1.5page of text)
and
Discussion/Conclusion
(min.
1
page
of
text)
.
For
this
particular assignment,
place
a
ll figures,
tables,
illustrations, and images
at the end
of
the
paper and call
this
section
the
Appendix
.
The length of the Appendix does not count towards the length of the Lab Report
.
Warning:
Do not plagiarize!
This is a serious offense.
Do not copy-and-paste from any source including a classmate’s Lab Report.
The
penalty is a score of zero points (0 points).