Steps to writing a lab report on: factors affecting enzyme activity

Transcription

1 Steps to writing a lab report on: factors affecting enzyme activity This guide is designed to help you write a simple, straightforward lab report. Each section of the report has a number of steps. By completing writing prompts at each step, you will have written that section of the lab report. When you have completed all sections, you will have completed your report. Sections of a lab report may vary with the journal the report is written for, but they will include: 1. Rationale or Introduction for doing the research and the hypothesis to be tested 2. Materials and Methods, the experimental design and procedure used to test your hypothesis. 3. Results, a narrative and presentation of data about the most important outcomes and trends observed in the experiment. 4. Conclusion or Discussion, what was learned from the experiment focusing on whether your results support or reject your hypothesis and providing the evidence to defend your position about the hypothesis. These sections can be downloaded as pdf files for printing HERE.

2 Rationale Steps. Write a paragraph that answers the following questions 1. Why study the biology of enzymes, how are they involved in living organisms? Sentences Why was catalase used to study enzyme activity? Sentences What is the researchable question you hope to answer? 4. State the hypothesis that you designed your experiment to test.

3 Materials and Methods Steps to writng about your experimental design 1. How were the treatments (independent variables) prepared? How many replications were used? What made up an experimental unit? What volume of catalase was used and what was the biological activity of it? How much H2O2 was used? How was uniformity maintained, what were the incubation times? 2. What was the dependent variable and how was it measured? What sensor/probe was used to measure the rate of catalase activity? What units were the rates of catalase activity measured in? How many samples per second was data collected What was the total length of time used to collect data? How was the rate of enzyme activity measured, what software was used? 3. How were the results analyzed? Were averages calculated? Were ranges or standard deviations used?

4 Results Steps to prepare a graph of your data for a figure 1. Layout the graph so that it covers two-thirds of a piece of paper with room for the figure caption below it. 2. Label the x-axis with the independent variable and the y-axis with the dependent variable. 3. Write the units next to the variable. Ex. Rate of Catalase Activity, mmhg/s 4. Number the axes appropriately making sure that they are incrementally and proportionally spaced. The distance from 1-5 should be different from Plot your data. Add error or range bars to the averages. [more on making a figure] Steps to writing the caption for the graph of your figure. 1. Begin with writing, Figure First sentence should be a title relating the independent variable to its affect on the dependent variable, catalase activity. 3. Write about the most important results in the graph. Sentences 1-2 Use quantitative and comparative terms. How large was the increase? Did it increase 25%, four times? 4. Last sentence is statement about the data. Was the data averaged and the range or standard deviation used? How many replications were used? Steps to writing an interpretation of the Results For each figure, write at least one paragraph describing the important aspects of the data. Expand on what you wrote in your figure caption. 1. What is the overall trend in your data? Is the rate of enzyme activity increasing or decreasing? How much did it change, 300%, six times? 2. Does rate change in a linear fashion, is the trend a straight line, or 3. Is there any mathematical relationship to your data? Does enzyme activity double with some constant increase in your independent variable?

5 Conclusion Steps to writing a conclusion. Write a paragraph to address whether you have sufficient data to support or reject your hypothesis and defend yourself by providing key data from the Results Section. 1. State whether the results support or reject your hypothesis, or whether your results are inconclusive. 2. Provide specific, quantifiable evidence for your position by referring to your figure. Steps to writing an analysis about experimental error. Write a paragraph that discusses any experimental error or areas of improvement in your experimental design to better test the hypothesis. 3. State any experimental errors that took place that may affect your conclusion. Were the incubation times the same for all treatments? Did you replicate and measure all treatments within a replication before repeating a treatment, or did you do all 3 replications of one treatment before going to the next treatment? 4. Write 1-2 sentences on the variability in your data. To what degree does your data overlap. The more overlap, the less likely that two treatments will differ. Steps to writing about the biological meaning of your investigation. Write a paragraph that discusses the biological meaning of your results and what new researchable question should be answered next. 5. Write a paragraph on what your factor might be doing to affect turnip catalase activity. Is there data that suggests that catalase activity can tolerate certain concentrations of your factor, and are there concentrations that may denature the enzyme and eliminate all activity? 6. Write 1-2 sentences on what researchable question you would investigate next based on what you found out from this investigation.