biology
Lab Report GuidelinesCommunication is necessary to disseminate information. In this regard, beyond talking witheach other, scientists report on their workby writingarticles on their findings and publishthem injournals that other scientists read.The main idea a scientific article is to conveyscientific findingsthatusuallyemergefrom a hypothesis driven experiment(s).The structureor format of these scientific articles is nearly universal irrespective of the length of the article.The formatis a convention that guides the author as well as the reader. At its most basic, theformat guides one through the process telling a story.The format for theLabReport on the activity of enzymes will resemble that of a scientificjournal articlewith some modifications.TheLab Reportwill have aTitle, anIntroduction,aMethods and Materials,aResults,aDiscussion/Conclusionand anAppendixsection.Eachsectionistyped in bold and start on a new page.An Abstractsummarizing the articleis notrequiredalthough theyareubiquitousin scientificjournalarticles.ReferencesandAcknowledgments (for help received and collaborations)are not required, butmaybeincluded. Each section is unique, different fromeach other, buttheyrely on each other toconveythestory.TheIntroductiondescribesthereason for the article. Includeenoughbackground material togain the readersinterest,muchlike allgood story tellingdoes. For our purposes,limitthediscussion ofenzymesto the material presented inclass lectures andinthe textbook. Thereis no need to look for additional information on enzymes unless you are so driven, but bewarned, theamount of informationis overwhelming. At the end of the Introduction, list thehypotheses for all partsor experiments inthe study.TheMethods and Materialsdescribes all the steps taken to perform the experiments. Thepurpose of this section is to allow someone else to replicate your work. Therefore, allchemicals or reagents, their concentration, how they were mixed together and theinstrumentation used must be noted.There is no need to explain how an instrument worksunless it is a newly developed one. For instance, one can assume that the reader knows howto 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.TheResultssectioncontainsthestudy dataonly.Presenttheraw data andanytransformationof the raw data.Figures and tablesare ideal for presentingthe data becausepictures convey information more easily than words.Label all figures, tables and imageswithatitle,a verybriefdescriptionof thedata,andanexplanation ofspecificcomponents of theimagethatimportantfor interpreting the data.Introduceeachfigureortablein the text.Presentinga figure or table withoutanytext is aseriousmistakeyou are asking the readerto read your mind and intentions. Avoid the temptationofexplainingthe datain this sectionthis comes laterin the Discussion/Conclusion section.However, you may explainthatoneor two points in the data wereomittedin a figure or table due to some mishap during the datacollection-this is perfectly acceptable.Remember, the focus of this section is the data, andonly the data.TheDiscussion/Conclusionsectionis where youinterpretyourfindings andresults.First,restate the goals of thestudy. Second,interpret that databyconsideringwhether the datafrom the experiments support your hypothesesstated in the Introduction.Third,synthesizeall the data orobservations in thestudy. Dothe resultsfit what you know about enzymes andwhat you expected?The datamake sense with yourknowledge and expectations.Discusswhether it does or does not.Fourth,discuss how future work may address any weaknessesin the experiments performed,and suggestpossiblestudies that willbuild on the knowledgegained from these studies.Lastly, make a final conclusion about the observations in your laband how they fit the topic.AReferencesection is included if you wish to cite any literature such as your textbook, thelab or any other source material.It is not required for this assignment.AnAcknowledgementsection isincluded if you wish tothank anyone who provided you someunique reagents,orhelpin the writing ofthe text.It is not required for this assignment.Therearequestions in the lab manual after each experiment.Youmust address thesewithinthe appropriate section of theLab Report.Figure out where the answer to each questionfitsinthe Lab Reportformat discussed abovebefore you start writing.The Lab Report shouldbe aminimum of 8typedpagesof text(excludingfigures, tables,illustrations,or other images),double-spaced,and10pt.12pt.font. The Introduction (min.1.5page 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 particularassignment, place allfigures, tables, illustrations,andimagesattheend of the paperandcallthis section theAppendix.Thelength of theAppendixdoes not count towards thelength of theLab Report.Warning: Do not plagiarize! This is a serious offense. Do not copy-and-paste from any source including a classmates Lab Report. Thepenalty is a score of zero points (0 points).