Appendix II: FLC Biology Department Guidelines for writing laboratory reports

Scientific writing is meant to communicate the results of experiments concisely, clearly, and objectively so that the readers can quickly find information and evaluate the work's quality. Scientific writing is very formal, unlike other forms that may be more familiar to you. Your audience needs to understand that your results and your discussion of those results are not biased by your personal interests. Your style should show your objectivity.

While scientific writing is formal do not equate formal with boring. Your written report needs to tell a story. For example, a report or article needs to have a beginning, a compelling ‘plot’, a climax, and a conclusion, similar to a narrative. As writers, scientists cannot assume that what they write will be read if it is not interesting – a story format to a scientific article makes it more interesting to the reader.

Writing style in scientific reports can vary as well. You will read papers that have been written in both the passive voice (i.e. "the leaves were weighed,") and in the active voice (i.e. "I weighed the leaves"). Technically both are correct. Modern scientific writing however prefers the use of the active voice. It has been shown that readers find the concepts and results to be conveyed more clearly if written directly and most importantly they tend to be shorter. You should take ownership of your data and ideas! Therefore laboratory reports that you complete for your Biology classes here at FLC should be written in the active voice. Be sure to use the correct pronouns for the number of authors on your paper.

Another unique aspect of scientific writing is that quotations are never used. Paraphrasing, or the rephrasing of information from another source is always done rather than the inclusion of direct quotes. This does not mean that you take the ideas of others and present them as your own. Ideas that you paraphrased from others must be cited in the text and the full source of that citation listed at the end of your paper. (See Literature Cited section description below) Cite references in chronological order (oldest first); within a given year, order them alphabetically (e.g., Jones and Gil, 1999, 2006; Ashton et al., 2007; Brown, 2007; Jackson, 2005, 2008). (et al. is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase et alia, which means “and others”)

Examples: Single author: Jones (2008) or (Jones, 2008). Two authors: Jones and Gil (2008) or (Jones and Gil, 2008). More than two authors: Jones et al. (2008) or (Jones et al., 2008).

Specific Format for a Lab Report

The following describes the typical format of a scientific report or paper in the biological sciences. Your report should be typed with standard fonts and margins. (Ariel, Times New Roman or equivalent, 11-12 pt font, 1 inch margins) The report must be divided into discrete sections including title, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, and literature cited.

TitleGive an informative name to the experiment. This title should provide the reader with a clear idea about the experiment and/or results described in the laboratory report. The title does not need to be a complete sentence. Often, titles are written to highlight a novel insight or to describe a test.

When specifically experimenting on the response of a particular organism it is often proper to include the properly written scientific name of that organism.

Bad example #1: Lab ReportBad example #2: Enzyme Activity Good example #1: Ecological effects of asexual clonal expansion within a trembling aspen

(Populus tremuloides) communityGood example #2: The effect of temperature on the activity of amylase enzyme

Authors and affiliationsWhile not a discrete section of a report you must list the names of the individuals involved in the completion of and writing of the research. In a lab group setting the list of authors should include all members of your laboratory group and your affiliation. If you are majoring in Biology your affiliation would be Department of Biology, Fort Lewis College, 1000 Rim Drive, Durango, CO 81301. The lead author(s) or first author should be the individuals who incorporate individuals’ suggestions for revisions into the final draft of the manuscript. Please include a note if multiple individuals have taken on the role of lead author.

AbstractTypically scientific papers include an abstract. This is a short summary of the goals, methodologies, and results of the experiment. The abstract is usually formatted with the motivation and background discussed first, generally 3-4 sentences in length; next is a description of your methods in roughly two sentences; this is followed by a brief statement of your results; finally this is followed up by a single sentence stating the implications of these findings. There should be no references within the abstract.

Introduction (not necessary to title this section since it appears at the beginning of the report, but all subsequent sections should be labeled)The introduction defines the subject of your report. It must outline the scientific purpose(s) or objective(s) for the research performed and give the reader sufficient background to understand the rest of the report. Care should be taken to limit the background to whatever is pertinent to the experiment. A good introduction will answer several questions, including the following:

Why was this study performed? Answers to this question may be derived from observations of nature or from the literature.

What knowledge already exists about this subject? The answer to this question must review the literature, showing the historical development of an idea and including the confirmations, conflicts, and gaps in existing knowledge.

What is the specific purpose of the study? The specific hypotheses and experimental design pertinent to investigating the topic should be described. Stating the question or questions that are to be answered by the experiment can easily be introduced with the phrase "In this experiment" or "In this study" and then explaining from there. These statements should be as specific as possible to demonstrate a clear understanding of the experiment. The purpose of

these statements is to explain what the experiment does and how the results will be interpreted.

General guidelines for writing the background information of an introduction section

1. Back all statements of fact with a reference to the literature.

2. Define specialized terminology. This may not be necessary if writing for a specialized journal but for in-class writing it is often important. Any terms that are used within the report that are necessary for understanding the report should be defined within the introduction. For more basic biology classes, most of the scientific terms need to be defined because they are new to the writer. In higher level biology courses the terms that are assumed to be understood do not require definition. A good rule of thumb--if you don't understand a certain term or concept, you need to explain it.

3. Never set out to prove, verify, or demonstrate the truth about something. Rather, set out to test, document, or describe. Nothing can be "proven" indisputably in science, and it is important to keep an open mind when interpreting the results of your experiment.

4. Be brief. Only information that is relevant to the experiment should be presented in the introduction. Any description and explanation that is necessary for understanding the purpose of the experiment should also be included.

5. Write an introduction for the study that you ended up doing. If an experiment is altered in any way, the introduction and the entire report should be about the experiment actually performed. Be sure to take careful note of any changes made during the experiment as well because this could change the overall purpose of the experiment which the introduction section describes.

Some other general points:Writing scientific namesFor many laboratory reports you will need to refer to the name of an organism you worked with. In Biology we use a standard system of naming, the Binomial System of Nomenclature, first established by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1756 which consists of two Latin words. The first word (always capitalized) is the genus while the second word (not capitalized) is the specific epithet. Although usually an adjective that agrees in number and gender with the genus it modifies, the specific epithet may refer to a geographic location or honor an individual person. For example, Bufo viridis is the green toad (where viridis is the Latin word for “green”). Rana blairi, on the other hand, is a frog named in honor of the famous herpetologist W.F. Blair.

An important point in writing is that since scientific names are in a foreign language (Latin), they must appear in italics (or be underlined when writing them). To fail to italicize or underline is not only a grammatical error, it introduces a problem for the reader, since one of the reasons for developing a system of scientific nomenclature was so that scientists from all around the world could recognize organism names without ambiguity. Note, however, that all other taxa – Domain, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, etc. are not italicized or underlined (although they must be capitalized as proper names). Although they may seem easier to use, common names vary from one place and language to another, which reduces their utility in scientific writing. For example, within the United States alone mountain lions have also called panthers, pumas, catamounts and painters, but to scientists all over the world, there is only one animal with the binomial Felis concolor.

A couple additional points on species: The word species is both the singular and plural form of the word (e.g. one species or two species). Once an author has written the full species name in a scientific paper, article, text book, etc. the genus may be abbreviated by using its first letter. For example, the first time you refer to the green toad, use Bufo viridis but thereafter (except if you are beginning a sentence with the species) you can refer to the species as B. viridis.

Using Primary LiteratureWhile not specifically required in Bio 106, as you move forward in your study of Biology it will be necessary to cite what we call primary literature. Primary literature is from peer-reviewed scientific journals that summarize the results of original research. As a student, you are probably most familiar with information presented in text books, popular magazines, library reference materials or internet sources. With few exceptions, such sources are not normally used in scientific papers, and when they are, they are used sparingly and only as an adjunct to the primary literature. As such, in any writing assignments you are given you will most likely be required to include a minimal number of relevant references from the primary literature. Remember, popular magazines such as Natural History, National Geographic, Discover Magazine, Time, Newsweek, etc. are not considered primary literature.

Example IntroductionsExample #1:

It is well known that enzymes are catalytic proteins which function to accelerate reactions by lowering the activation energy (Author, date). An enzyme is very specific in the reactions in which it undergoes: it contains an active site that allows only certain reactants, known as substrates, to bind to it (Author, date). In the first experiment, referred to as the variable enzyme experiment, we examined the rate of reaction of catechol and oxygen to form benzoquinone when the amounts of the enzyme (catecholase) were varied. We hypothesized that enzyme amount affects reaction rates and thus we expected that reactions with increased amounts of enzyme relative to the amount of substrate will have a greater net conversion of substrates than those reactions with a lesser ratio of enzyme to substrate. Likewise, in order to maintain its specific function, an enzyme must retain the specialized shape of its active site (Author, date). Environmental factors such as ionic concentration and pH have been known to alter the conformation of a protein and subsequently its active site conformation. In this experiment, referred to as the variable pH experiment, we examined the rate of reaction of catechol and oxygen again, but this time when the pH was varied. It was expected that the reactions that occurred in a fairly neutral pH would convert more substrates than those reactions which were in an acidic environment of pH 4.

Example #2: Artemisia tridentata, commonly known as big sagebrush, is an ecosystem

dominating the intermountain region (Monsen and Shaw, 2000) and makes up the largest cold-desert ecosystem in North America (Sanford and Huntly, 2010). The intermountain region is defined as the area between the Rocky Mountains on the eastern side, and the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevadas on the west side (Wikipedia/Intermountain West). Big sagebrush thrives in mesic soils. Mesic soils are those that are moderately moist. Big sagebrush has deep growing roots that contribute to the overall moisture content of the soils where they grow (Ryel et al., 2003). The soil water content (SWC) has consequences for all members of the big

sagebrush ecosystem, including the health and biodiversity of soil biota (Ryel et al., 2003).

The big sagebrush ecosystem is in decline due to the encroachment of human settlements, conversion to agricultural land, livestock grazing, invasive plant species, wildfires and climate change (Wikipedia/Artemisa tridentata, 2012). The decline of the big sagebrush ecosystem is of interest because it provides niches for ungulates, birds, reptiles, invertebrates and arthropods (Monsen and Shaw, 2000) and supports biodiversity in the regions where it thrives. One example of the delicate balance of species in the sagebrush ecosystem involves the sage grouse and the community of arthropods living in sagebrush ecosystems. The sage grouse depends entirely on big sagebrush for habitat, food and chick rearing (Kirol et al., 2012). Arthropods take extensive advantage of the big sagebrush ecosystem, providing essential nutrition to much of the sagebrush ecosystem’s food web, including birds like the sage grouse (Sanford and Huntly, 2010). The vitality of populations depending on sagebrush ecosystems can be compromised if the habitat is destroyed, as has been evinced by the decline of the sage grouse almost to the point endangerment (Wikipedia/sagegrouse).

Big sagebrush has been shown to adapt to subtle changes in environment, including elevation, water availability and CO2 levels (Smith et al., 2002). There are a number of ways that sagebrush has evolved to become successful in semiarid environments. The shrub temporally separates vegetative and reproductive growth, and times each event based on water availability (Evans and Black, 1993). Vegetative growth takes place in the spring when water is plentiful, while reproductive growth takes place in the summer and fall when water is scarce (Evans and Black, 1993). In between these two cycles of growth, the shrub experiences leaf abscission in order to decrease stomatal conductance and limit water loss over the dry summer and early autumn months. The inflorescence of big sagebrush has been shown to be highly photosynthetic, making excess vegetative growth unnecessary to produce flowers.

Based on our interpretation of sagebrush soil ecology and of the effects of aspect on ecology in general we developed our research question: how will a difference in elevation affect the timing of autumnal life cycle events in big sagebrush? We hypothesized that the lower elevation plants would produce more new leaves and more flowers, because they would receive more water, less exposure to direct sun, wind and foot traffic. While our question was not addressed by our data, an understanding of the timing of the annual life cycle events in big sagebrush from the literature led to an unpredicted interpretation of our results.

Materials and Methods The Methods section is generally the best place to start when writing a lab report. It is usually very straightforward, and writing it first helps many people establish the proper thought process and understanding of the work that will allow the rest of the report to flow more smoothly.

The methods provides the reader with a clear understanding of what you did to conduct your research. The amount of detail provided needs to be sufficient for the reader to clearly understand your experimental design and your results. The difficulty in writing this section is to provide enough detail for the reader to understand the experiment without being overwhelming. Subsection headings are sometimes used in methods sections to make it easier for the reader to

identify each component of the methods. Such headings could include: Study species, Experimental design, Data analysis, etc.

Generally, this section attempts to answer the following questions: What materials were used?How were they used?Where and when was the work done? (This question is most important in field studies)What kind of analysis was performed? (Graphics, statistics)

There are several common mistakes that are often found in the Materials and Methods section of a lab report. One major concern is deciding upon the correct level of detail. It is very easy to get carried away and include every bit of information about the procedure, including extraneous information. A good guideline is to include only what is necessary for one recreating the experiment to know. Keeping this in mind will lead to a Methods section that is thoroughly written, but without the kind of unnecessary detail that breaks the flow of the writing. For instance do not say: “A hot plate set on high was used to boil water in a 500mL beaker, then samples were added to test tubes using a test tube clamp”… Rather you should say: “Water was heated to boiling before the samples were added…”

Another common mistake is listing all of the materials needed for the experiment at the beginning of the section. Instead, the materials and equipment utilized during the experiment should be mentioned throughout the procedure as they are used. Enough detail should be included in the description of the materials so that the experiment can be reproduced.

Finally, the Materials and Methods section should be written in past tense.

Example Materials and MethodsExample #1:

In preparing the catecholase extract, a potato was skinned, washed, and diced. 30.0 g of the diced potato and 150 ml of distilled water were added to a kitchen blender and blended for two minutes. The resulting solution was filtered through four layers of cheese cloth. The extract was stored in a clean, capped container. Four individually labeled spectrophotometer tubes were prepared using different amounts (as represented in Table 1) of the following reagents: a buffer of pH 7, a 0.1% catechol substrate, and distilled water. The wavelength of the Spectronic 20 spectrophotometer was set at 540 nm. To calibrate the specrophotometer at zero absorbance, a blank control tube prepared with no catechol substrate and labeled "tube 1" was inverted and inserted into the spectrophotometer. The extract to be tested was added to each tube immediately before placing the tube into the spectrophotometer. 1.0 ml of catecholase extract was pipetted into tube 2. Tube 2 was immediately inverted and placed in the spectrophotometer. The absorbance was read and recorded for time zero (t0), the ten minute mark (t10), and each minute in between. Tube 2 was removed from the spectrophotometer and the same measurements were taken for tube 3 and tube 4 using the same protocol.

Example #2:Starting with 15 ponderosa pine saplings, we sorted the trees into three

groups by relative size (small, medium, and large). We took one plant from each group and preformed a destructive harvest, drying and weighing the roots and shoots of each plant for a baseline measurement of biomass for the saplings. We decide to

create four treatments groups to be watered with varying levels of MgCl every other weekday. We felt it was important to treat every other day to “flush” the soil, simulating rain or snow melt. Our treatment levels started at a 30% concentration of MgCl in water, which is the concentration of MgCl in the product most commonly applied to roads during ice/snow conditions in La Plata County- APEX (Snow removal products 2012). The remaining groups were treated with 15%, 5%, and 0% concentrations of MgCl to represent a dose of APEX that has been diluted by snowmelt or water. We put one plant from each size category into each of our four treatment groups, noted their initial health, and began our experiment.

Each week we watered the plants every other day with 50ml of MgCl treatment and gave them a 50 ml dose of pure water between treatments. We measured the height and observed the color of the needles and needle drop once a week during this time. Along with receiving the same amount of water each plant grew in the same amount of sunlight, soil, and in the same temperature for the duration of the experiment. At the end of the experiment we took our final measurements and observations, tested the salinity of the soil, dried and weighed all roots and shoots, and organized the data into line and bar graphs in Microsoft Excel.

Results The results section should be written in paragraph form providing a verbal description of the results of your experiment or investigation along with a summary of representative data in tables and figures. It is not merely a collection of tables and figures without explanatory text. If tables and figures are used, you should provide the reader with an interpretation of what a table or figure illustrates. In your written results section it is important to summarize the data from the experiments without discussing their implications.

Your data should be organized into tables or figures. Tables are a simple tabulation allowing precise numerical presentation of data. A figure is any graphs, photograph, map, or technical diagrams. But data included in a table should not be duplicated in a figure or graph.

All figures and tables should have descriptive titles and should include a legend explaining any symbols, abbreviations, or special methods used. Conventionally, in science, the title for a figure should go below the figure itself and the title for the table goes above the table. Figures and tables should be numbered separately and should be referred to in the text by number, for example:

“As is shown in Table 1, there was no significant difference in leaf area between sun and shade leaves. or We determined that sun and shade leaves show no significant difference in leaf area (Table 1).”

Note in the example above that the table with data was not simply referred to. (e.g. The data can be seen in Table 1). That is generally poor form. It is better to give some specific aspect or summary of the data presented in the table or figure and then direct the reader to that table or figure.

Any figures and tables should be self-explanatory; that is, the reader should be able to understand them without referring to the text. All columns and rows in tables and axes in figures should be labeled.

This section of your report should concentrate on general trends and differences and not on trivial details. Remember, the word “data” is plural and requires a plural form of a verb and the Results section describes data that was collected in the past and thus only past tense verbs should be used.

GraphingLearning the proper way to present scientific data is invaluable in your development as a biologist. Graphs are one of the most common ways to present research findings in a results section in all areas of biology. Thus knowing how to construct a meaningful graph to present your data will be useful if you are researching the expression of a gene in cancer tissue or plotting the levels of biomass in various ecosystems.

In the process of graphing we usually recognize three types of variables. These are referred to as controlled, independent, and dependent variables.

Controlled Variables: Controlled variables are variables that need to be held constant. If they are allowed to change during an experiment they could interfere and affect the outcome in unpredictable ways. The result of an experiment would be invalid if variables that need to be controlled are not identified and held constant.

Independent Variable: The independent variable is the one variable that the experimenter deliberately changes (manipulates) in order to see what will happen to a third kind of variable referred to as the dependent variable. On an ordinary graph we would most likely represent this independent variable as the x-variable and we would plot its values on the x-axis. Time is a common independent variable.

Dependent Variable: The dependent variable is a function of the independent variable, which is the one being deliberately manipulated by the experimenter. On an ordinary graph we would most likely represent the dependent variable as the y-variable and we would plot its values on the y-axis.

The following basic plant growth experiment shows how these basic variables are used.

1. A student sets out to determine the effect of plant food on the growth of plants.

2. In setting up the experiment, the student realizes the growth of the plant will be a function of the amount of plant food used. Therefore the growth of the plant is the dependent variable because the growth depends upon the amount of food.

3. Likewise, the amount of food is being manipulated by the student and has a direct effect upon the plant growth. Therefore, the amount of food is the independent variable.

4. Finally, but just as important for a successful outcome to the experiment, the student carefully determines what other factors affect the growth of the plant. These would include the amount of water used, the amount of light exposure, and the kind of soil the plants were grown in. All of these variables would need to be kept constant so they would not influence the growth of the plants. These factors, also called variables, must be controlled.

Types of graphs

There are many different types of graphs for the presenting of different types of data. The most common include the bar graph, scatter plot, and line graph.

Scatter Plot Line Graph

Bar Graph

Which type of graph should I use?Each of the different graph types lends itself to particular types of data and should be used appropriately. While it may be possible to force your data into any graph form it doesn’t always make sense.

Scatter plots are used to show the relationship between two variables and show how much one variable is affected by another. This relationship between two variables is called their correlation.

Line graphs are used to depict dependent variables measured over a continuous independent variable (i.e. time)

Vertical bar graphs are used when the independent variables are discrete groups (i.e. different types of nutrients)

Regardless of the type of graph you use, all contain similar elements

1. Axes. A graph consists of a horizontal axis (x) and a vertical axis (y). Typically, values of the independent variable (the cause or what you manipulated) are plotted on the horizontal axis and values of the dependent variable (the effect or the outcome you measured) are plotted on the vertical axis.

2. Labels. Both axes should be clearly and briefly labeled. Labels should include variables and units of measure.

3. Tick marks. The axes should be evenly incremented. Tick marks should be placed on the axes and inside the line. They should include the range of data and should be kept to a minimum to avoid cluttering the figure.

4. Figure legend. There should be a figure legend below the graph that briefly describes the information in the figure. It should be clear, concise, and informative. The figure legend should be understandable without reference to the text and answer, if appropriate, the questions “what”, “where”, “when” and “why”. Figures are numbered in order of reference in the text.

TablesWhen it is necessary to present precise numerical data tables are commonly used. As with figures, they should be concise and organized such that relations and trends in the data are evident without reference to the text. All tables contain similar elements.

1. Title. Tables are numbered (Arabic numerals are generally used) in order of reference in the text. The title briefly describes the information presented in the table and is presented at the top of the table.

2. Column and row headings. Column headings identify variables or data in each column below the heading. They contain variable names and units of measurements. Row headings identify entries in the rows to the right of the heading. Note that only the initial letter of words or phrases in column and row heading is capitalized.

3. Body. The body contains the data presented in the table. Data should be presented so that similar elements read down (i.e., in columns). When presenting numbers, give only significant figures; within columns, align the decimal points of the numbers, the hyphens of ranges (e.g., 25-67) and plus/minus signs, place a zero before the decimal point of numbers less than 1 (e.g., 0.1, not .1) and enter numbers in a column under the column heading.

4. Horizontal lines. Horizontal lines separate the table title from the column headings, the column headings from the subheadings, the column headings from the body, and the body from the footnotes. Do not use vertical lines in tables.

5. Footnotes. Footnotes contain explanatory information.

Table 1. A comparison of weight gains (g) in white rats fed on low-fat and high-fat diets for two months.

Low-Fat Diet High-Fat DietSex t

N Mean Gain N Mean Gain

Males 12 2.4 11 2.9 1.42

Females 14 3.1 15 5.7 3.01*

*(P<0.05)

Discussion The Discussion should be written last so that you have a good idea of what the experiment has demonstrated. This section relates your results to your hypotheses, providing the reader with a clear understanding of how the data supports or refutes that hypothesis. Remember that we CANNOT prove a hypothesis is correct, so do not state this in your discussion. We can collect data however to support a hypothesis. This section should have a statement of your expected findings. This should include your hypothesis and a brief statement about why these types of results are expected. There should also be a comparison of how your actual results related to your expected findings. Here, you should state whether or not your results supported or didn't support your hypothesis. In addition, the degree to which the evidence supported your hypothesis should be stated. For example, were the results completely supportive, or were there variances? You should also discuss how your results relate to those of others. Typically, this would be done by discussing our results in relation to published studies.

There should be an explanation of unexpected results. When looking for possible explanations, consider the following:

a. Was the equipment used adequate for the task? b. Was the experimental design valid? c. Were the working assumptions made correct?

A common mistake that many writers make is to blame themselves for the unexpected results. Unless you actually made a mistake following the methods of the experiment, and could not go back and correct it, do not make up such errors to explain the variances you observe. If your hypothesis is not supported, try to propose a reason why. In this case might there be something specific about the distribution of species across the landscape which could affect their predictive value? What do your data say about the relationship between the organism and its environment? Think about and analyze the methods and equipment you used – were they the right equipment to test your hypotheses? Include what would be the next step in your investigation: If you were to continue this research, what experiments would you do next? How would you modify or repeat this experiment? If your hypothesis was not supported, this does not mean that the experiment did not work. The experiment did work, you collected and analyzed data, and you learned something about the system you were studying. Now you can propose new hypotheses for future experiments. If your

data do support the hypothesis, try to explain which biological processes might explain the data. Find relevance for your data and place it into a larger body of evidence and link your work to future studies.

Example DiscussionsExample #1:

The results of the first experiment supported the hypothesis that the rate of conversion of the substrate would increase with increased amounts of enzyme. We observed that Tube 2, which had the highest concentration of enzyme, catecholase, also had the highest absorbance level. Since absorbance is used as a measure of reaction, the greatest rate of conversion of catechol and oxygen to benzoquinone was seen in Tube 2. The high ratio of enzyme to substrate caused the absorbance to grow rapidly and then level off (Figure 1). The tubes with lower concentrations of enzyme had lower rates of conversion, as expected. However, there were some unexpected results in Tube 2. Between the time of around 6 minutes to 8 minutes there was decrease in the absorbance. One explanation of this observation is that the settling of the substrate to the bottom of the test tube caused the enzyme to become less efficient since it could not attack the substrate as well. The settling reduced the surface area of the substrate that could be attacked by the enzyme. The tube was inverted and the substrate was stirred up, which caused a rise in the absorbance. Further experiments, involving the constant stirring of the solution, could be performed to test this possibility.

The folding and combination of polypeptide chains forms the specific, three dimensional shape of an enzyme. This shape is extremely important to the enzyme's catalyzing efficiency and many environmental conditions can affect the shape of enzymes and thus their efficiency. A range of pH values exists for all enzymes, between which they reach their maximum catalyzing action. This range is usually between a pH of 6-8. pH levels outside this range can denature the enzyme, thereby decreasing its catalyzing ability. The results we obtained supported this assumption for the catecholase enzyme. The catecholase samples in tubes 3 and 4 had similar absorbance rates and, therefore, similar enzyme activities. However, the pH of 4 in tube 2 corresponded to low absorbance and low activity of the enzyme in that tube. This is due to the fact that the acidic environment is harmful to the enzyme, and denatures it. Catecholase, an enzyme found in fruits in nature, is well adapted for efficiency in nature. Its range of optimal pH levels, 6-8, allows it to function in the varying pH levels of soil and those caused by acid rain.

Example #2:We expected the lower site plants to be healthier and more productive than

those at the upper site because the lower site is more protected from the wind, would be exposed to less human traffic and would have more water available. Our results did not support our hypothesis. In fact, the upper site grew more new leaves, and the production of flowers was equal between the two sites. The literature has shown that the reason for this is because sagebrush inflorescences are photosynthetic and can grow without creating new leaves (Evans et al., 1991).

An investigation of big sagebrush biology explained why we saw no correlation between leaf growth and flower production within our results. Big sagebrush has adapted to a temperate semi-arid climate. Low SWC is normal for this time of year, and big sagebrush produces flowers capable of photosynthesis in order to survive and reproduce. If we had known this, seeing flowers despite the dry conditions would have been expected. Since sagebrush has been shown to be able to capture and distribute water quickly, we wonder if the plants growing father up the slope might prevent any precipitation from reaching the bottom of the slope. This might explain why we saw a difference in leaf number and overall viability between the upper and lower Centennial sites. Being able to test SWC along the entire slope between the two sites, and knowing that big sagebrush redirects water into the soil, would allow us to have a better understanding of how and if the big sagebrush on the Centennial trail were affecting SWC at our two sites (Ryel et al., 2003).

Another factor to investigate in relation to our project area was the displacement of soil due to heavy traffic. On our upper site the plants were very close to the trail. The Lower site was on a smaller, less travelled trail off of the main trail. Even though there was heavy traffic near our test sites, it didn’t seem to impact their overall health. In fact, the lower site, which was not on the trail, were less healthy than the upper site where the plants were on the trail. A future experiment might be to investigate trail ecology and how the foot traffic affects SWC, erosion and overall plant health. A possible way to investigate this would be to to compare big sagebrush growing in urban settings to those growing in rural settings.

There are several other environmental factors to study further in relation to this experiment, such as: temperature, height and amount of the canopy, the amount of shade, frost events, SWC, precipitation, soil pH and the concentration of soil nutrients. Investigating the variables on this list could provide us with a better understanding of the difference between our two sites and the results that we found.

In conclusion, flower production in big sage brush is not dependent on plant health as we have defined it. Throughout this phenology lab on big sagebrush, we learned some very interesting things about this so commonly seen plant throughout the southwest. Even though it is seen as a weed by many and cleared frequently to make way for building new houses, conversion to agricultural land, and for livestock grazing, we learned that big sagebrush is a very important shrub to our regional ecosystem. A decline in the numbers of animals that depend on big sagebrush has been observed by many (Kirol, 2012, Sanford, 2010). Whether it is for their home or food, big sagebrush is a very important fixture in the ecosystems of the four corners.

Acknowledgements

While not a required section acknowledgements are very common in scientific writing. It is almost impossible to conduct scientific research without the assistance of others who are not directly involved in the research itself. This could be a permit granting agency, funding source, tissue source, etc. It is thus proper to give recognition to this assistance in the acknowledgement section. There is no set format for acknowledgements but follow a similar professional style as already used in the rest of the paper.

Literature CitedThis section is simply a listing of all cited references. In the sciences we do not have a single standard format for citation but we rather follow different forms in our specific fields. What this means is that the use of a format like MLA is discouraged and you will lose points if you use it.

Format: List citations in alphabetical order by author last name. Single-author titles precede multi-authored titles by the same senior author, regardless of date.

List works by the same author(s) chronologically, beginning with earliest date of publication. Spell out all author(s)’ last names. Use “a”, “b” (determined alphabetically) for works with the same author(s) and year citation.

Spell out all journal names, do not use abbreviations.

The general format should follow:Last name, First and Middle Initials (if given), Second or more authors. Year. Article title. Journal Title Journal Volume: pagination.

Citation ExamplesJournalMcCauley, R. A. and H. E. Ballard, Jr. 2013. Viola calcicola (Violaceae), a new endemic violet from the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico and Texas. Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 7: 9-20.

McCauley, R. A., B. J. Christie, E. L. Ireland, R. A. Landers, H. R. Nichols and M. T. Schendel. 2012. Influence of relictual species on the morphology of a hybridizing oak complex: an analysis of the Quercus x undulata complex in the Four Corners Region. Western North American Naturalist 72: 296-310.

BookEsau, K. 1976. Plant Anatomy, 2nd ed. Wiley, New York, New York.

Book ChapterMcCauley, R. A. 2003. Froelichia. Pp. 443-447. In Flora of North America Committee [eds.]. Flora of North America north of Mexico, Vol 4. Oxford University Press, New York.

Online peer-reviewed article with only DOI and no traditional paginationPunyasena, S. W. and S. Y. Smith. 2014. Bioinformatic and biometric methods in plant morphology. Applications in Plant Sciences. doi: 10.3732/apps.1400071

Websites (no print version) Use websites sparingly as most do not constitute “peer reviewed literature”. Heap, I. 2006. The international survey of herbicide resistant weeds [online]. Website http://www.weedscience.com/ [accessed 00 Month Year].

Note: For many journal articles you will access them through the databases available via the library. Even though you access these via an on-line system such as JSTOR or EBSCO the resources found via these systems should be cited independent of the search system. Do not provide a reference or URL directed to the database. You must always reference the article to a journal with volume and pagination (unless only DOI is given).

Formal Lab Report Checklist

Introduction:_____Provides background on what the experiment is about or why the observations were made;

background to help the reader understand the project_____States the objective of the experiment _____States the hypotheses _____Has cited all references used to write the Introduction as they are used_____Has been proofread for grammar and typos

Methods:_____Provides a detailed description of the steps used in paragraph form; not details about

unimportant procedures; written as if you’re telling someone how you did the experiment or made the observations, not how to do the experiment

_____Cites the lab manual or other protocols used_____Does not copy or plagiarize the lab manual _____Does not include a list of materials_____Has been proofread for grammar and typos

Results:_____Explains the pertinent results for your experiment or observations_____Provides results in graphic (figures or tables) and written format without using vague, misleading descriptors_____Figures have a descriptive title that is located at the bottom of the drawing and are numbered consecutively_____Tables have descriptive title that is located at the top of the table and is numbered consecutively_____Has been proofread for grammar and typos

Discussion:_____Explains each result and how it compares to what others have found (experiments do not have

to be exactly the same as what you have done)_____Explains why results do not conform to what has been seen previously (if they do not)_____Summarizes all findings in the last paragraph_____Makes a reasonable set of conclusions in the last paragraph_____Cites all references that were used to write the Discussion_____Has been proofread for grammar and typos

Literature Cited:_____Lists complete citations for all references that were cited in the text of the report (not MLA format)_____Does not include any citations that were not cited in the text_____Is titled “Literature Cited” (not References or Bibliography)_____Lists web sites infrequently and primary literature or reference texts frequently