Lab Report Guidelines
Communication is necessary to disseminate information.  In this regard, beyond talking with
each  other,  scientists  report  on  their  work by  writing articles  on  their  findings  and  publish
them  in journals  that  other  scientists  read. The  main  idea  a  scientific  article  is  to  convey
scientific findings
that usually emerge from a hypothesis driven experiment(s).
The structure or format of these scientific articles is nearly universal irrespective of the length of the article.
The format
is a convention that guides the author as well as the reader.  At its most basic, the
format guides one through the process telling a story.
The  format  for  the
Lab Report  on  the  activity  of  enzymes  will  resemble  that  of  a  scientific
journal article with some modifications
.
The Lab Report will have a
Title, an
Introduction
, a Methods and Materials
,
a Results
,
a Discussion/Conclusion
and an
Appendix
sectioN.Each section is
typed in bold and start on a new page.
An Abstract summarizing the articleis not required although   they are
ubiquitous
in   scientific
journal
articles
.
References
and
Acknowledgments  (for  help  received  and  collaborations)
are  not  required,  but
may
be
included.   Each  section  is unique, different  from
each  other
, but
they
rely  on  each  other  to
convey
the story
.
The
Introduction
describes
the
reason for the article.  Include enough
background material to
gain  the  readers interest, much like  all good  story  telling does
.  For our purposes, limit the discussion of enzymes to the material presented in
class lectures and
in the textbook.  There is  no  need  to  look  for  additional  information  on  enzymes  unless  you  are  so  driven, but  be warned, the amount of information is overwhelming.  At the end of the Introduction, list the
hypotheses for all parts or experiments in
the study.       The Methods and Materials
describes all the steps taken to perform the experiments.  The
purpose  of  this  section  is  to  allow  someone  else  to  replicate  your  work.    Therefore,  all
chemicals   or   reagents,   their   concentration,  how   they   were   mixed   together  and   the
instrumentation used must be noted.
There is no need to explain how an instrument works
unless it is a newly developed one.  For instance, one c
an assume that the reader knows how
to operate a spectrophotometer.
This section is the near equivalent of a cook book to a chef.
If there are five experiments, then provide instructions for replicating all five experiments.
The Results section
contains the study   data only
.Present the raw   data   and any transformation of the raw data.
Figures and tables
are ideal for presenting the data because
pictures convey information more easily than words.
Label all figures, tables and images with a title, a very brief description of the data
, and an explanation of
specific components of the image that important
for  interpreting  the  data.
Introduce each figure or table in  the  text.  Presenting a figure or table without
any text is a serious mistake
–you are asking the reader to read your mind and intentions.  Avoid the temptation
of
explaining the data in this section
–this comes later in the Discussion/Conclusion section.
However, you may explain that one or two points in the data were omitted in a figure or table due to some mishap during the data
collection-this is perfectly acceptable. Remember, the focus of this section is the data, and only the data.                                  The Discussion/Conclusion
section
is  where  you interpret your findings  and results.First, restate the goals of the study.  Second, interpret that data by considering whether the data from the experiments support your hypotheses stated in the Introduction
.
Third,
synthesize all the data or observations in the
study.  Do the results fit what you know about enzymes and what you expected?
The data
make sense with your knowledge and expectations.  Discuss whether it does or does not.
Fourth,discuss how future work may address any weaknesses
in the experiments performed,and suggest possible studies that will build on the knowledge
gained from these studies.
Lastly, make a final conclusion about the observations in your lab and how they fit the topic.
A Reference section  is  included  if  you  wish  to  cite  any  literature  such as  your  textbook,  the lab or any other source material.It is not required for this assignment.
An Acknowledgement
section is included if you wish to
thank anyone who provided you some unique reagents,or help in the writing of the text.It is not required for this assignment.
There are questions in the lab manual after each experiment
.
You must address these
within the appropriate section of the
Lab Report.
Figure out where the answer to each question fits in
the Lab Report format discussed above before you start writing
.
The  Lab  Report  should
be  a minimum of 8
typed pages of text
(excluding
figures,  tables, illustrations, or other images), double spaced,
and 10pt.–12 pt.font.  The Introduction (min. 1.page of text),
Methods and Materials
(min. 4page of text), Results (min. 1.5page of text)
and  Discussion/Conclusion
(min.  1  page  of  text)
.
For  this  particular assignment,  place  a
ll figures,  tables,  illustrations, and images
at the end  of  the  paper and call
this  section  the
Appendix
.
The length of the Appendix does not count towards the length of the Lab Report
.
Warning:  Do not plagiarize!  This is a serious offense.  Do not copy-and-paste from any source including a classmate’s Lab Report.  The
penalty is a score of zero points (0 points).