Review the Lab Report Rubric HERE
You will be required to write a research lab report in third person containing the details of your research and experiment. For additional information, you may want to check out the Purdue Online Writing Lab guide to APA style
The following sections will need to be included in your report (for word counts, you can assume about 250 word, 12-point, sans serif font on a double-spaced page):
1) Abstract (150 words to 250 words maximum) The abstract is a single paragraph summary of your experiment. Your abstract should contain the following items:
1) Background
2) Statement of Purpose
3) Summary of Procedures
4) Summary of Results
5) Significance of Findings
Keep the following questions in mind: Why was the research done in the first place? What were the main questions of the research, and what did you do to find answers? What results did you get, and why are these results important? Since the abstract is a summary of your entire project, you should write this section last. It should contain NO quotes or cited information. The Abstract is all your original thoughts.
2) Introduction (500 words minimum) - This section of the report should contain two major parts: background information, and an introduction to the experiment you conducted.
Consider writing about the following topics:
- The characteristics and significance of the organisms used in the experiment
What is Arabidopsis thaliana and why is it often used in research?
- Specifics of the genetic variable
What is RUBY how does it work?
be specific about your RUBY line (is it 1.6 or 2.4?)
What is PR1 and how does it work?
The significance of the differences between the wild type Col-0 (WT) and the transgenic line with PR1::RUBY construct
- Specifics of your environmental stressor
What effects might it have on the plants?
Why is studying its effects important for Environmental Science?
The Introduction can have NO MORE than 3 "direct quotes". All other cited information must be paraphrased in your own words.
3) Hypothesis(es)/Purpose - The hypothesis(es) you came up with prior to starting the experiment and the reasoning behind it (required).
3) Experimental Design (150 words minimum) - This section of your report is NOT a list of all the materials you used, followed by a list of instructions. The purpose of this section is to explain how you carried out the experiment
You should include:
the significance of both the positive and negative controls (what are they and why must they be a part of this experiment?)
identification of the specific positive and negative controls in your experimental setup
the differences between the controls and experimental groups, and how any outside variables were controlled
directions for applying the stress variable (for example: making the desired molarity of nitrogen; maintaining specific temperature range; maintaining specific soil moisture).
You should NOT include:
information about commonly used lab items (beakers, Erlenmeyer flasks, etc.), unless they were used in a novel way during the experiment
a step by step set of instructions on how to carry out the experiment - this section should be written in paragraph form and describe the basics, not every detail
any explanations of your results - you will be talking about these later!
4) Quantitative and Qualitative Results (as many words as necessary) -
Your results section will consist of graphs (box & whiskers and line) and a small amount of text that describes your data. Do NOT include explanations of your results as you will be explaining them in the next section of the report. You can also include pictures, data tables, and descriptions of qualitative.
*** NOTE THE FOLLOWING FOR YOUR GRAPHS:
Control Mutant - Blue Line
Control Wildtype - Red Line
Experimental Mutant - Purple Line
Experimental Wildtype - Green Line
Be sure to keep in mind the types of graphs that will best show your data. Google Sheets Graphs (help link) can be used, or The National Center for Education Statistics has an easy-to-use online graphing tool that you may find useful.
Make sure your graphs are big and clearly labeled as your data is an extremely important part of your experiment. A person who looks at a figure should be able to tell what it is showing just by reading the title.
Unacceptable Titles - "Graph 1" or "Height of Arabidopsis Plants"
Acceptable Titles - "Graph 2. Growth of Arabidopsis plants with 1.6 RUBY::PR1 that have received a treatment of drought stress."
5) Analysis AND Conclusion (500+ words) - In this section, you should be answering the following questions:
*** NOTE: Per the Lab Report Rubric these two sections count twice ***
Analysis -
What were the patterns/trends in the data? Does the data suggest any relationship between the stress variable and expression of RUBY in the experiment?
Why do you think you got the results you did? If variables were changed (increased/decreased stress treatment, etc), would the results have been the same?
Were there any sources of error that might have influenced your results?
Conclusion -
What was the importance of your results? Where can the research go from here (in other words, could there be future applications of this research)?
How did your results relate back to your hypothesis? Did they support it? Not support it? Why?
Were any of the results unexpected? If so, why?
Read the above points again. A lot of people forget to relate their results back to their original hypotheses.
How can this information be applied in the future?
Remember that even though you are providing your own analysis of the results, this report should NOT be written in first-person point of view.
This section of the report can often be difficult to write. If you need help framing what you will write about, try answering these questions about your data.
6) Works Cited -
Make sure to use parenthetical citations (APA-style) while writing your report and to cite anything that is not your own thoughts and ideas. If you are not sure how to cite something, check out the Purdue Online Writing Lab guide to APA style
Good luck! If you are still confused as to what to add, ask your teacher, or classmates.