laboratory report

For the Student Choice Experiment you will be required to write up (individually) a complete laboratory report (Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, References), and (as a group) develop a presentation reporting your experiment and results. Before the complete report you will have to develop an outline of the final research write-up. The outline should make it clear that you will achieve the goals for content within each section without being overly long or too detailed. It is a road map, not an essay. Please DO NOT write in paragraph form.

Example Format:
*for each line, you should have no more than a single sentence or brief statement. References need not be included, but the need for citations should be indicated (i.e. reference needed).

This outline should not be longer than 2 pages.

Abstract
This section does not need to be outlined; however you should make it clear that there will be an abstract.
Introduction
Background: why is the investigation interesting or important
Topic sentence for background paragraph
Supporting evidence as many points as needed
Repeat for additional paragraphs
Experimental conditions: why conditions of interest might change due to experimental manipulation
Topic sentence for background paragraph
Supporting evidence for as many points as needed
Repeat for additional paragraphs if needed
Study goals: what are the goals of the study, why needed?
Topic sentence for research goals paragraph
Supporting evidence
Hypothesis to be tested (by this point the scientific justification and need for the comparison should be clear)
This should be the Student Choice hypothesis that your group identified in the Lab 3, and should reflect the changes made following your presentation to your lab section
Methods
For each measurement taken, the instrumentation used should be provided (to measure X, we used.. ; list each separately)
Summarize the types of statistical comparisons that will be made, and what criteria you will be using to identify significant differences
Results (even though you will not have all of your data collected, but you should have an idea of what data you will be collecting)
Statements making it clear what experimental measurements will be made and the types of data that you will compare
A list of the tables and figures that will be included in the final report (given that the data collection is not yet complete, if the final report includes different figures/tables from those indicated in the outline, you will not be penalized).

Discussion (since you haven’t completed the data analysis yet, you are likely not sure what your conclusions will be. In this section predict what you expect to find and the conclusions you will reach if your data support your predictions. If your data don’t end up supporting these conclusions, you will not be penalized).
Topic sentence for paragraph(s) summarizing the overall patterns
Biological mechanism that accounts for pattern
Supporting evidence from other studies (i.e. references)
Conclusion that you reach relative to hypothesis presented in introduction
Topic sentence for paragraph(s) considering alternative explanations (hypotheses)
Alternate biological mechanisms
Supporting evidence from other studies
Topic sentence for paragraph(s) considering the limitations of the data and/or experimental design
Implications for data interpretation
Topic sentence for paragraph(s) addressing how results contribute to the larger question being asked in experiment. This should connect back to the context provided in the background in the introduction.
References
This section need not be included in the outline, beyond an indication that this section will be present in the final draft. However, if citations are included in other sections of the outline, they should be cited here.