February 05, 2008

Plant Lab Write-up Instructions

(40 points)

Please see the course calendar for the due date selected by your class.

The plant experiment recently excuted by you and your lab partner will be transformed into a Formal Lab Report.

Detailed instructions will be given in class but this page should serve as a reminder for the expectations of the paper.

The tone of a science paper is very different from the tone of an english paper. You should attempt clear, precise,

and concise language. Only use adjectives when imperative to convey your meaning but otherwise keep the tone clinical

and scientific. Attempt the third person where possible but admittedly occasional lapse into ''I" or "we" is unavoidable.

I encourage you to visit the writing center prior to handing in your paper. This is a great resource that I would

like you to get to know as a underclassmen. I will give a free point if you visit prior to thedeadline. The extra point is not

available for resubmissions after the first due date. Please see the schedule posted in

the English office for Writing Center hours.

Introduction (10 points)- The purpose of this section of the paper will be to introduce your reader to the topic that you

will be investigating. You should include a topic sentence that describes what the experiment intends to examine. You should

include a discussion of the background needed to understand germination (anatomy of a pea). Please attempt to use

appropriate vocabulary that is relevant to understanding the essentials ideas. I suggest 333, 375 in the YELLOW

Biozone for reference. Give your reader the background necessary to understand germination.Remember you want your reader

to completely understand what you are intending to examine. Images are fine BUT please include a url for the image.

Lastly you should restate your hypothesis. Be sure that your language flows between ideas.

Procedure (5 points) - NO Lists! This section should retell the steps of how you examined the question that you are

investigating.  Some basic reminders- How did you select the peas? How did you germinate the peas? Did you have selection
criteria for the peas that were actually planted? How did you put together the material (environment) to grow

the plant? How did you collect data? What data did you collect? How did you water? Did they all have the same light exposure?

Was there other factors that could be a factor in the growth pattern of the plant?

Data (10 points) All tables and charts need titles. Don't forget units and include a sentence with your graph that describes the

trend that you observed. Remember to cut and paste in your table and chart.

Conclusion- (10) Restate your hypothesis in light of your data. Describe the patterns and trends that you observed in your

data and offer an explanation for the trands. Does thepattern fit your hypothesis. Offer an explanation for the data and any

abnormalities within the data set.

Format (5) Correct title page, correct format throughout, tables and graphs inserted into lab, etc, spelling, font, spacing, tables,

graphs, images

Some more details...

I will be very tough on the grading of these lab reports.

You are welcome to show me drafts of what you intend to write prior to the deadline.

You can resubmit this lab for a new grade as many times as you need too and you can resubmit the lab up until the

last day of the semester. Please proofread carefully before handing in a rewrite and be sure that you have improved and

fixed the paper before asking me to grade the new submission because your grade could go down.

Good luck!