Midterm Lab Report Instructions

1. Conduct the experiment by following the detailed instructions below.
2. Fill out questions in the lab manual to guide your experiment and organize your results and conclusions.
3. Take pictures of your experiment prior to beginning once you have all of your equipment set up, in the middle of the experiment and at the end of the experiment. You must include a card like the example below in each photo or you will receive 0 points for the lab report.

4. Record your detailed observations and results throughout the experiment.
5. Once you have conducted the experiment and completed the questions/tables, you will write a 3 page lab report in essay format (MLA,) summarizing the experiment, results and conclusions. Please see detailed instructions, an example report, as well as the grading rubric under Week 2.

Detailed Report Instructions are on the next page!

• Minimum length of 3 pages of text, double-spaced, not including pictures and figures. 20 points.
• Lab Report must include the following sections (separated by bold headers corresponding to those below). 5 points.
  • Introduction: 2-3 paragraphs introducing the biological concepts covered in the lab, including references to sources. Last paragraph of introduction should contain 2-3 sentences introducing the lab design. 40 points.
  • Methods: 2-3 paragraphs detailing the methods that you used to perform the lab. Do not cut and copy these from the lab manual. Write these in sentence form and do not use numbers or bullet pointed lists. Include every detail you performed so that the reader would be able to perform the lab exactly as you did if they were trying to repeat it. Include pictures/diagrams where necessary. 40 points.
  • Results: 2-3 paragraphs summarizing the results of the experiment. Use the Lab manual as a guide for the type of information to include here. Create figures (bar plots, scatterplots, etc) in Microsoft Excel from the completed tables from the Lab manual. Do not insert the tables from the Lab manual into the document, as I expect further synthesis of these results. Insert pictures of the completed experiment. 40 points.
  • Discussion & Conclusion: 2-3 paragraphs discussing the results of the experiment, what the results mean, and how they relate to the biological concept under study. Reference outside sources where appropriate. Discuss 2-3 errors while avoiding the term human error. (Random Error and Systematic Error) Include a paragraph on your experience and impressions of the lab and what you learned. 40 points.
  • References: Include MLA properly formatted references and in-text citations. A minimum of three sources are required. (See Purdue OWL). 15 points.