Hello, I would need a formal lab report writtin on “Investigating the Rate of Cellular Respiration in Different Types of Germinating Seeds”. I Have attchted an example on how it should be written., its Called “Isopod habit selection lab report”
More instructions :
In general, the lab report should be neatly typed, organized, and presented so that the reader can easily understand your work. As this is a college-level course, the report should be well-written with correct spelling, grammar, and style.
Title: The title should be descriptive enough to relay the main point of the experiment and include any organisms that may have been involved.
Introduction:
Labeled as Introduction, this section includes background information that is important for understanding the scientific concepts being investigated in the experiment. If applicable, other important elements in the experiment should be described. For example, the anatomy, diet, behavior, and habitat of any organisms involved should be presented. Also, background information about any special reagents or techniques should be included if they were used. This section usually needs several solid paragraphs to adequately cover the material.
Most of the information will be obtained from either the textbook (Audesirk et al, 2014), or from the lab handout (Author, Year of Publication), or from lecture notes (Cahaly, year lecture was given), or from the internet (Author, Year of Publication). Only use internet sources which possess an author and a publication date. Paraphrase any info from your sources. This means you should summarize it in your own words (do not use direct quotations in a scientific lab report).
A citation (Author, Year of Publication) like the ones already demonstrated in the above paragraph must be placed at the end of every sentence or group of sentences from one source. If the whole paragraph has been summarized from one source, then, it only needs one citation at the end of the paragraph. There should a citation at the end of every paragraph even if several paragraphs in a row are summarized from the same source. In the Literature Cited section at the end of the lab report, a full bibliographic citation must then be included for every source used in the report. Failure to cite information which is not your own original thoughts is considered plagiarism.
Finally, a few sentences should be included about the purpose of the experiments performed in the lab. The purpose should tell what you are trying to prove or discover in the lab. Describing the purpose is a good way to sum up the introduction and bridge it to the rest of the lab report.
Procedure:
A procedure tells the reader how the experiment was performed. Enough information is provided so that anyone with a similar background in biology could repeat your experiments exactly as you had done them. It is written in the past tense. You are describing events which already happened in the past (unlike the lab handout which is telling you what you will do in the future). Throughout the whole lab report, use the third person “it, its, they, their” or the name of the object (never use first person “I, my, mine, we, our, ours” or second person “you, your, yours”). For example, “The test tube was placed in a rack and filled with 1cm of distilled water.”
A lab report is a written communication of your research and should flow in a smooth manner. The procedure should be in full sentences in coherent paragraphs, not in numbered steps. It is sufficient to describe any materials or equipment in the same sentences telling how they were used in the experiment (see example above), so do not list materials or equipment separately.
If the lab involves multiple experiments, this section may have many paragraphs describing these experiments. All the lab’s procedures will be included in this one section labeled with Procedure as shown above. This section tells how you did the experiment, but it should not include any background information (belongs in the Introduction section), or tell what happened (belongs in Results section) or why it happened (belongs in Discussion section).
Results:
All data should be presented in an organized and logical manner. This section should be labeled with Results as shown above and include information about what happened in the experiments. It should not include any interpretations, explanations, or conclusions as to why you got these results (belongs in Discussion section).
Data can be presented in the form of drawings or graphs. These are considered figures and are labeled below the figure with a consecutive number starting with Figure 1 under the first figure as well as an appropriate descriptive title. Any microscope drawings should include the total magnification of the examined specimen.
Some data is best displayed in the form of tables. Tables are labeled above the table with a consecutive number sequence separate from the figure number sequence. So, above the first table would be Table 1 as well as an appropriate descriptive title.
It is possible to have a results section with only tables or figures and no written paragraphs. However, there may be some results that are best presented in written paragraphs (e.g. observations of animal behavior). Once again, only include what happened and leave the explanations and conclusions for the discussion section. Any complex calculations would also be included in the results section.
Include all the results for all the experiments in the lab in one results section. Do not staple the results to the end of the lab report. They should be inserted into the actual results section.
Discussion:
Label this section with Discussion as shown above and explain all the observations and results in the experiment. Look at any questions you had to answer in the lab handout. These questions were probing you for explanations and conclusions about each experiment. Do not answer these questions individually in this section. Rather, use their answers as starting points in building your discussion paragraphs.
Go through every result and explain its significance. Draw upon the earlier background outlined in your introduction to back up your interpretations of the data. Impress the reader with your knowledge. Do not assume they understand all the fine details.
Discuss any procedural problems or mistakes which may have contributed to unexpected results. Remember there are no wrong results if you can provide intelligent ideas on how they may have happened and trouble-shoot your procedure for future experiments. Some of the greatest discoveries in science happened by “accident”.
Also, provide some suggestions for where you may take the investigation in the future. What new experiments would be worth pursuing?
You should conclude the discussion section by re-visiting the purpose of the lab described in the introduction and relating that purpose to your actual results.
This section of the lab report indicates your true understanding of the whole activity. Although you may be a little mentally exhausted by the time you have plowed through the other three sections, it is extremely important that you give this section your utmost effort. It is this section which will separate two otherwise equivalent lab reports into an A grade or a B grade.
Literature Cited:
As discussed in the introduction section, this is where you will provide a full bibliographic citation for every source used in the report. Examples of some of the most common sources you might use are given below.
Audesirk, T., Audesirk, G., and Byers, B. E. (2014). Biology: Life on Earth,
9th ed., Benjamin Cummings.
Cahaly, D. H. (year lecture was given) Lecture on ______________, Introduction to Biology I, Northern Essex Community College.
Internet articles:
Author. (Year of Publication). “Title of Work”, Title of overall Web site. Web. Date accessed.