LAB

WRITING LABORATORY REPORTS For each of the upcoming six laboratory modules in the class, each individual will put together their own separate lab report even though you usually work in groups to collect data. Each lab report should have five sections: 1) Introduction, 2) Study Area, Materials and Methods, 3) Results, 4) Discussion, and 5) Literature Cited. Lab reports should be approximately 3 pages single-spaced (6 pages double spaced) excluding the tables, figures and literature-cited section. The lab report format should follow the scientific method – students develop a scientific hypothesis, test the hypothesis and then decide (based on scientific literature) whether findings support or reject the hypothesis. In other words, your report should present a scientific question(s), present the data gathered to test that question, and then conclude with a discussion of the merits of the findings based on logic, facts and scientific literature. Before starting on a lab report make sure you fully understand what you are doing in the lab, why this might be important, and who could benefit from what you learn. Plan your data collection carefully and make sure that all data is recorded correctly. When you write up your report, think about who your audience (beyond the classroom) might be (be professional), what your purpose is and make sure to include all-important material. Please do not assume that the person reading the report knows anything about your experiment; lack of information could result in a lower grade. Even though everyone writes their own report, you can consult with lab partners to discuss the importance of results and findings. BUT PLEASE make sure the report you hand in is your own work (any signs of plagiarism will not be tolerated).

Introduction In this section you introduce your subject, and why it is important to the scientific community (i.e general background on your subject). Here you show you understand the context of the research you have completed and you demonstrate to the reader that you are aware of other related scientific work on the subject. At the end of this section you state a hypothesis (what you expect to find), explain why you proposed this hypothesis and how it is related to previous research on the same subject (in other words, justify your hypothesis). In essence you are explaining the value of the research you are doing and you are making sure the reader understands that what you are proposing to do is reasonable and backed by scientific studies. What is the background that led to the development of your hypothesis? Example Hypotheses: 1) Nitrate levels in the Rio Grande will be higher at the location where the waste water treatment plant empties in the Rio Grande and downstream for this site compared to upstream from the waste water facility, 2) Seed production on grassland plots will increase as the amount of total summer rainfall increases, 3) Above ground counts of Sacramento Mountain Salamanders will increase as percent humidity increases, or 4) Predation of bird nests will be related to the type of nest with higher rates of predation on ground nests compared to above ground open cup nests.

Study Area, Materials and Methods This section gives the details about where you did your data collection (i.e. exact geographical area/location), what instruments or field techniques were used and how you collected samples. This section should clearly explain to your reader exactly what you did so that your methods could be replicated and your findings reproducible. Remember – this section describes how you collected your data, NOT what you found. Organization is important. Start with where your data was collected (i.e. your study area), what field techniques you used and how you applied them.

Results This section provides your raw, un-interpreted data. This is often the shortest but most important section of your lab report. Be sure to present what you observed, and if your hypothesis was supported. The text in your results should be a short paragraph (often maybe just a few lines) that describes the results that you obtained from your experiment. Here you want to be short and to the point. You may want to describe a trend that you observe even though you may not have enough data to draw strong conclusions. You should use tables and figures to guide researchers toward important information. You will often present your results in the form of a table or a figure but also include a verbal presentation (text) and you must reference any tables or figures you present in your text (see example below). Remember your Methods section tells how you obtained your results and your discussion explores the significance of your results. This should emphasize to you the importance of the results section since your report is clearly designed around this section. Before writing this section, carefully look at your data. You can construct graphs to compare results, look at percentages, and also means and ranges. Do NOT draw conclusions about your results in this section that belongs in the discussion. Tables and Figures; Should I use a table or a figure? Tables can display large amounts of data or averages, whereas figure can provide visual illustrations of important trends you observe with your data. Figures are often the easiest to interpret, but think carefully what type of figure to use and ALWAYS label your axes, include units of measurement and give all tables and figures complete titles that explain what that figure/table represents. Use horizontal lines in tables but not vertical lines. Please use the metric system to present all measurements. Example: We found that rates of nest predation were up to 40% higher for ground compared to elevated cup nests for birds nesting in the Chihuahuan Desert (Figure 1). In this instance, figure 1 is the graph that you put together to demonstrate your results. Information presented in tables and figures should augment what you present in your text, it does not need to repeat it.

Discussion In this section you evaluate your results to do this 1) you determine whether they support or reject the hypothesis(es) you tested – did you expect to find what you observed, 2) discuss observations that were different from what you expected, 3) discuss the limitations of your experimental design, 4) relate your finding to other research (i.e. other scientific literature and cite those studies), and 5) discuss the implications (significance) of your findings. Discussion of

the implications of your research is generally found at the end of your discussion. This section also examines the value of your findings as well as the limitations of your findings and your experimental design.

Literature Cited Minimum of 3 scientific references – scientific journals. To cite a scientific study in the text of your report, you must include the Authors last name and year of study. For example, if you wanted to cite the study below in your text, after you discuss that study in your text you would put (Gilbert and Chalfoun 2011). If there are three or more authors you put the last name of the first author followed by et al. and the year – so if the study was done by Smith, Gilbert and Chalfoun in 2015 you would put in parentheses (Smith et al. 2015). Correct format for citations: Authors names, year of publication, title of article, journal name, journal volume and page numbers. See example below: Gilbert, M.M., and A.D. Chalfoun. 2011. Energy development affects populations of sagebrush songbirds in Wyoming. Journal of Wildlife Management 75:816-824. ***For more information about citations, see examples in Lab Manual on pages 17-18.*** -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NMSU Library We reviewed library searches in lab but you can also go to library links below for assistance. Also see pages 11-14 for more information. http://lib.nmsu.edu/ http://lib.nmsu.edu/findarticles.html http://lib.nmsu.edu/tours/ googlescholar:https://www.google.com/search?q=google+scholar&rlz=1C1GCEB_enUS788US78 8&oq=google+scholar&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60l3j0l2.2693j1j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 Web of science: http://libezp.nmsu.edu:2196/Search.do?product=UA&SID=8DcUz2UEPGPGOom4N86&search_m ode=GeneralSearch&prID=45103ff8-5f56-4a7d-8f87-9485fd2d3768 As a reminder, you can also type Google scholar in your search bar to bring up this search engine external from the NMSU library page. You then type in key words that reflect what type of scientific article you are searching for – i.e. water quality, dissolved oxygen content, etc. All lab reports are due in lab and should be turned in to your TA or submitted to Canvas.

Grading: You will be graded on the following:

1) Introduction – 20pts 2) Methods – 15pts 3) Results – 15pts 4) Tables & Figures – 10pts 5) Discussion – 15pts 6) In-text Citations – 10pts 7) Literature Cited – 15pts

Please see the grading rubric below for more detailed information about grading and requirements for lab reports.

***Note: Lab reports are due at the beginning of the lab period, lab reports that are turned in late will lose 5 points (half a grade) per day after the due date. Attendance to lab is mandatory, unjustified absences will be penalized with a 5-point deduction to the student.