Overview
Part 1: Experimental Design Plan
For your course project you are tasked with designing and carrying out a research project on plant transpiration of your own design.
Transpiration is the process by which moisture moves through a plant. The process is broken down and explained in chapter 30, section 30.5 of the text book. The purpose of this assignment is to help you plan and design an experiment investigating the factors that impact plant transpiration.
Instructions:
Look through the directions in the transpiration lab student guides. Before performing an experiment or lab, you must design and plan what is going to be tested and how you are going to test it. You must be organized and be able to communicate your results effectively. This assignment is designed to help you organize your experiment design. Use what you have learned about the scientific method from your lab assignments to help you design an experiment on plant transpiration. You will need to conduct some background research on plant transpiration to help you design your experiment. The research will be used to help you write the introduction portion of your experiment paper.
An experiment is a research method in which you manipulate a variable or variables under very controlled conditions and examines whether any changes occur in response to the manipulation of the variable.
It is a cause and effect relationship
1. Experiment introduction & background research with references in APA format (50 pts)
Before you can design an experiment you need to have a good understanding of the current research. You need to summarize what research is currently known about your experiment question in the introduction of your report. This part of the assignment allows you to get a jump start on that task while building valuable knowledge that will help you in your experiment design.
1) Visit the APUS library and internet to research information on plant transpiration. The program guide for natural sciences is a good starting place to begin your APUS library research: Natural Science
2) Look through these tips for how to share background research in an introduction: Tips for Introduction section
Collect background information for your research experiment and use references and in text citations to back up you research. Explain any ideas or techniques that are necessary for someone to understand your experiment. At the minimum you should cover what transpiration is, what role/influence your independent variable has on enzymes, why this is important, your testable question and hypothesis. The introduction is generally 1 page long. You need to use APA formatted in text citations and references and this should be written in the 3rd person. You need to use at least 4 different academic references for your background research.
The grading in this section of the assignment is broken down as follows:
Coverage of topic including scientific question and hypothesis: 30 points
4 academic references and APA reference and citation technique: 15 points
Grammar/spelling/voice:5 points
Need tips on APA in text citations? They can be found here: In Text Citation
Need tips on APA reference formatting? They can be found here: Reference List
Want a handy tool that formats your references in APA for you? Visit this website: KnightCite
2. Identify the Independent Variable, Dependent Variable and Constants (10pts)
- Independent Variable is the variable that is manipulated. It is the variable that you change on purpose. (The CAUSE) There are many variables that can change transpiration. You will choose only 1 independent variable to test. You can choose from temperature, light, humidity, plant species, or air flow.
- Dependent Variable is the variable that we measure in response to the manipulation of the independent variable. It is a measurable change. State what are we measuring to gauge transpiration in our experiment here(The EFFECT)
- Constants are all the other variables in the experiment that must remain the same so we can see what effect the independent variable has on the dependent variable.
- The Control is used as a standard of comparison. The control is a level of the independent variable that has been changed the least or not at all.
3. Write a Title (5pts)
- Use the following pattern when writing a title…
The Effect of the (Independent Variable) on the (Dependent Variable)
4. Write a Testable Question (5pts)
Not all questions are testable!!
A testable question asks. . .
"What is the effect of the Independent Variable on the Dependent Variable?"
5. Write a Hypothesis (5pts)
A hypothesis is a prediction of the outcome of the lab. Your prediction is based on your understanding of the scientific concept.
It answers your testable question. Use the following pattern:
IF the (IV- how it is changing), then the DV- how you think it will change), BECAUSE (why do you think this is happening.
Example- If the IV increases, then the DV will decrease because….
6. Write your Procedures (20pts)
Procedures are a list of materials used in the experiment and the steps in performing the experimental part. Procedures are the recipe you follow in order to perform the experiment. Write these in order, in paragraph form, and using your own words. Do not simply copy and paste from the student lab guide.
7. Create your Data Table (5pts)
Data is recorded during the procedures. You need to create your data collection table for your experiment. Below is an example Data collection table. Create your own collection table using labels with the names of your variables and the correct units you are measuring. Do not collect data yet! You are just setting up the table so you are ready to collect data when it is time to run your experiment. Wait until you get feedback from this assignment to begin any data collection
{Insert name of Independent Variable} (insert units) {Insert name of Dependent Variable} (insert units) Average { Insert name of Dependent Variable }(insert units) Trial 1 * Trial 2 * Trial 3* Control {Insert Treatment 1 Name} {Insert Treatment 2 Name} {Insert Treatment 3 Name}
*Repeated Trials------Why repeat the experiment more than once?
Mistakes happen no matter how careful you are so if you repeat the experiment you will get more reliable data. The more repeated trials the more likely you will reduce the effect of chance errors and the more reliable your data becomes and the more confidence you can place in your data. Generally a minimum of 3 trials is acceptable for experiments with more being better.
Part 2: Experiment Report
Assignment Description:
The course project is designed to focus on experimental design. As future scientists, this project orients you to the process of experimental design. It entails designing an experiment. The results of the experiment are to be presented in a lab report format. The information in the experiment report should match the experiment design presented earlier. You will share your experiments and results with the class in the last discussion of the class.
Instructions:
For the course project you must perform, analyze and share and the results of an experiment of your own design. You have already turned in and received feedback on your experiment design. You need to carry out your experiment as designed incorporating feedback. With the data collected you will analyze your results and draw conclusions. Your information must then be submitted as a lab report.
Directions on how to write a lab report are found below and in the attached Guidelines for Scientific Papers.
Please review the rubric to ensure you are addressing all expectations. Make sure you read through the grading rubric so that you understand all the information that is required. Your assignment will be automatically submitted to TurnItIn with your submission. Make sure you follow APA reference and citation technique.
How to Write An Experiment Report:
Experiment or lab reports are an excellent way to practice scientific writing. Scientific writing is a style of writing that places a premium on clear, concise language. You should write efficiently and without excess verbiage. This means you want to avoid using more words when fewer will do.
Researchers must pay by the page to have their work published. They want to spend as little as possible on publication, saving more money to fund the actual research. By writing as efficiently as possible they can eliminate excess verbiage and decrease the cost of publication. You will practice this style of writing in your lab reports for the course project.
Lab reports for this course project will have the following style.
- Use 12 point font
- The report should be written in the 3rd person. Do not use personal pronouns (I, us, we).
- Example written incorrectly in 1st person: I applied 5mL of water to each plant daily.
- Example written correctly in 3rd person: 5ml of water was applied to each plant daily.
- Make sure to use the correct tense. If you are talking about something that has happened in the past, use past tense. Present tense can be used when referring to scientific principle such as "Meiosis involves two divisions."
- Use APA formatted references and in text citations. Direct quotations should not be used in lab reports. Any information that is not common knowledge needs to be cited. When in doubt, cite it. Failure to cite information can be plagiarism. For more information on what constitutes plagiarism go here. If you need to review APA formatting for references and citations go here and scroll down to the bottom of the page (citation examples section).
- The experiment/lab report should be organized into the following sections: Title, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Literature Cited. Details about each section are found below and in the attached Guidelines to Scientific Papers resource.
The title of the experiment/lab report should be descriptive. It should state what you are studying and what variable was manipulated. It should be on a separate title page that includes the students name, course section and date.
The abstract is a one paragraph summary of the entire lab report. It should state the purpose of the study, what was done, what was found and what was concluded. Even though it goes at the beginning of the report, you should write this after you have completed the entire lab report.
The introduction section of the report should define the topic and explain its importance. It should share some background information related to the research that you used to help you design your experiment as well as state the research question and your hypothesis. It should be no longer than 1 page in length. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE IN TEXT CITATIONS HERE!(See Guidelines to Scientific Papers resource below for more details)
The methods section should explain how the experiment was conducted. It should not be a list or bullets but should be written in a narrative format. Include only the details that are necessary to replicate the experiment and should explain why the procedure was done. This section should be written in the past tense and should not discuss any results . You need to include a picture that includes your name, the date and your experiment set up in action in the methods section.
The results section should explain the results of the experiment without interpretation or comment. It should be used to summarize general trends. If multiple experiments were conducted each should have a separate paragraph explaining the results. Graphs and tables should be used if appropriate but not as a substitute for a written explanation. Make sure that graphs and tables have a description that would allow the reader to understand the graphic even if they could not see the graphic.
- Example of incorrect table/graphic description: Table 1. Bacteria counts and water level for Blackwater River
- Example of correct table/graphic description: Table 1. Bacteria counts and water level for Blackwater River in the summer of 2015. Bacteria were sampled using 3 point cross sections along a 10 mile stretch of the Blackwater River. Samples show that as water level decrease so do bacteria counts. During higher flow levels bacteria levels increase. The results the area sampled is impaired for contact recreational use.
The discussion section is where you interpret the results. You should also discuss the results in context of the overall experiment as identified in the introduction of the report. You should tell the reader why the data looks like it does and why it is important to know. Lastly you should discuss potential modifications for the experiment. What kind of changes would you make to this experiment to further knowledge of transpiration? This is not to correct mistakes but usually every experiment ends with more questions than you start with. How would you address those questions in future research?
There is an example LAB REPORT attached.