Microspcope and Cells Lab Report

BIOL102: Introductory Biology Guidelines for Lab report preparation

Spring 2018

• On the first day of lab, groups of 4 (maximum) will be self-assembled and fixed for the semester.

• Lab reports must be submitted by the group (one report per group). o Every person in the group gets the same grade. o DO NOT include the names of individuals who did not attend the lab or help write the report.

§ If you include the name of an absent individual, everyone will receive a zero.

• Make sure to spell check and to use appropriate language and terminology. o Handwritten reports are not acceptable, unless otherwise stated.

• Lab reports must be submitted using Blackboard in the corresponding folder (found in the Laboratory materials folder located in the Course materials section).

• The report is via Blackboard a week after the experiments were completed. o Late reports will not be accepted.

• There are a total of nine lab reports; the lowest non-zero grade will be dropped.

The lab report must follow the following format: • Cover page: (Failure to include a cover page will result in a point deduction.)

o Title o Date o Name of each active, present participant and the name of their professor next to it

• Introduction (20 pts):

o What is the topic of the lab? What is the theoretical background for the topic addressed in this lab? What are the goals? § You may use information from the introduction. If you do, then paraphrase the information. DO

NOT simply copy and paste from the lab sheet. Cite it in the references.

• Materials and Methods (20 pts): o What are the materials/reagents/ instruments used in this lab? o What is the procedure followed?

§ Explain the methods that you used to complete the lab which may vary from what is written. DO NOT simply copy and paste the information from the lab sheet.

• Results (25 pts):

o What observations did you make? Describe in words what you saw. § Be precise, draw a diagram or insert a picture if it helps illustrate the point.

• If you include either, then provide a figure legend or label it appropriately. o What measurements did you take (if applicable)? You can display these in a table.

§ A picture of a datasheet is NOT acceptable if it is handwritten. § Be sure to include ALL data and answers to all questions.

• Conclusions (25 pts): o What did the results show? Explain what happened and why. o If the experiment did not work, explain what you think went work.

• Literature cited (10 pts):

o Provide the references of any sources that you used in the preparation of this report (for instance in the Introduction). You can also cite the pre-lab reading.

o Wikipedia.org is unacceptable. General recommendations • Font and Organization

o 12 pt Times New Roman Font o Double-spaced o Headings in bold font

• Spelling and Grammar

o Perform a spelling and grammar check because points will be deducted for excessive mistakes