-So we had come up with the hypothesis about the planarian and create our experiment to test the hypothesis and collect data. It is now time for us to write the lab report about this.
-Requirement for lab report:
1. Introduction:
Background Information: Include information about the species being studied (in this case, planarians), focusing on their natural history, where they live, and what they eat.
Hypothesis: Clearly state what you expect to find from your experiment. It doesn’t matter if the hypothesis is right, wrong, or in-between—what’s important is how you interpret the results.
Rationale: Explain why you chose your hypothesis. This explanation should be based on previous research or observations. This is the “defense” of your hypothesis and should be well-thought-out rather than random guesses.
2. Methods:
How was the study done? Write this section in the past tense since you will have already conducted the experiment.
Level of Detail: Provide enough detail for someone to be able to replicate your experiment exactly.
Analysis Done: Include what kind of statistical methods or analysis were performed (e.g., identifying averages, standard deviation, etc.). Remember not to write the methods as a list of instructions.
3. Results:
Present Analyzed Data: Provide your analyzed data (but no raw data). Include graphs, tables, and figures to help illustrate your findings.
No Interpretation Yet: This section is strictly for presenting the results. Do not interpret the results or explain what they mean in relation to the hypothesis.
4. Discussion:
Interpretation of Data: Here is where you interpret your results and explain whether they support or refute your hypothesis. It’s also important to discuss the larger implications of your findings and how they contribute to broader biological understanding.
Explain Potential Errors: Address any errors or unexpected results that occurred during the experiment and how they might have impacted the data.
Next Steps: Discuss what could be done next in future experiments, including how to build upon your findings or modify the experiment for further investigation.
No Proving Hypotheses: Remember, in science, you do not prove anything; rather, you support or do not support your hypothesis.
5. Figures and Citations:
Figures and Tables: All graphs, tables, and figures should have appropriate captions explaining what they show.
Consistent Citation Format: You need in-text citations and a works cited page at the end. Ensure consistency in citation style throughout the report.
Length: The paper should be around 4–6 pages long, concise, and to the point, without unnecessary details.
-The “planarian lab report” attachment below is our lab report pdf that we havent finished. You can read the method section to understand that we did in our experiment and continue working on the lab report, we already have some basic method and data label and stuff, however it need more refinement, and more details as in the requirement, like the method section might need more talk about analysis done like what serve as independent variable, dependent variable, control variable, or how temperature might affect our result, and the result section might need more analysis calculation like standard deviation and mean (which then help in later discussion section for interpreting data). THE DISCUSSION PART IS MOST IMPORTANT, AS IT DOESNT MATTER WHETHER THE HYPOTHESIS WAS TOTALLY WRONG OR THE EXPERIMENT IS FAILED, BUT WHAT IMPORTANT IS HOW WE UNDERSTAND AND INTERPRET THE DATA CORRECTLY AND UNDERSTAND WHAT LED TO ERROR AND STUFF (MORE ON REQUIREMENT ABOVE).
-The 2nd attachment is Expectations & Grading Criteria for a Scientific Pape. Please read this carefully. However, it doesnt matter what format the lab report is as long as it is uniform throughout the entire paper, as well as the citation, need to be label throughout and at the reference section
-The 3rd attachment is our raw data that we collected
-The 4th attachment labelled “diet of dugesia” is the lab report sample, you can read it to get the idea
The 5th attachement labelled “lab 9” is what prepare us before conducting our experiment as it let us know what helpful info we should know for our upcoming lab report such as types of sensory receptors
♦ importance of bilateral symmetry in determining location of stimuli
♦ anatomy of planarian eyespots
♦ variation and variability
♦ experimental error
♦ independent variables and dependent variable
♦ controlled variables – what are they and why are they important?
♦ negative controls – what are they and why are they important?
♦ qualities of good data tables and graphs
♦ graphing techniques for continuous, discontinuous, qualitative and
quantitative data
-The 6th attachment “lab 8” is about variation and experimental design, things that you should know like error, variable, graphs, etc that help doing the lab report
-The 7th attachment is the pic I drew for you to visualize the experiment we conducted
-The last attachment is Grade descriiptions for Planarian Behavior paper!
ASK ME IF YOU HAVE ANY CONFUSION. IF YOU DO WELL, I’LL PAY MORE;))