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Ecology Lab – Biol 3144
Lab requirements: Lab write ups and quizzes, final optional Grading: Reports
55%; quizzes 35%; final 10% Lab reports: See below. Quizzes: Short essay questions about last week’s lab or
lecture. May also include identifying plants or animals encountered. If we plot
data in graphs, be able to recreate the graph with a different set of data.
If you will be absent for unavoidable reasons, call me to schedule a
make-up. You must make up missed quizzes before the next lab. Come dressed for field work, including appropriate shoes,
unless instructed otherwise. The UNCC Code of Student Academic Integrity applies in this
course. Guide to preparing lab reports: Each report will have four sections: Introduction, Methods,
Results, and Discussion. Each section is worth 25 points. Reports may be submitted as email attachments. Reports are due the day of the next lab. Late reports will
be penalized 5 pts for each day they’re late without an excuse. Intro. Flesh it out a bit. What is the question we are asking. Why are we asking this question? How does it relate to broader questions or issues? What might be the possible underlying mechanism? My introductory comments at the beginning of each lab should give you an idea of what to include here. Don’t put methods in the Intro. We only want the big
picture here. MethodsWhat did we measure- what species, what part of it? How did we select the individuals to be measured? What equipment did we use to measure it? “Data” is plural. Don’t put results in the Methods section. Could a student who missed lab read your Methods section
and exactly repeat what you did? ResultsTurn in worksheets whenever we use them as part of your results. In some instances the worksheet will have all your results and would be sufficient to get you 18/25 points. The worksheet with a couple of sentences summarizing them will give you a chance at the full 25/25 here. Do not use a sentence that says simply, “Our data are
plotted in Fig. 1.” Rather, say “A paired t-test showed the means to be
significantly different at the P<.05 level (see Table 1).” DiscussionDo the results make sense? Refer back to the questions
posed in your introduction. Could we have made a mistake in measuring something?
If we find a difference in the opposite direction of what we expected, we may
need to rethink the our underlying assumptions. Remember, if we find no
difference between groups we are comparing (you accept the null hypothesis),
either there really was no effect, or there was an effect but we couldn’t
detect it. What could lead us to miss a real difference between our control and
experimental subjects? Reread your paper before submitting it! Bad writing (see
examples below) will cost you points! BAD writing: Induction (they meant “Introduction”!)
Knowing that soil is one of earth’s natural resources that is often
made by man to serve as an energy source for plants, one would suspect that soil
is a needed product for plants to grow. However, soil have three major
components. There were no differences in plant community within the
varies of types of soil. After completing this observation the class has confirm that from the late 1800’s to 1950 both female and male lived a very average life spand. INTRODUCTION
Background information from introductory remarks and discussion.
Purpose of the lab (Include a sentence that begins, "The purpose of
this lab was to.....") Study Area (including map)
METHODS
Describe
your methods so that a classmate who was absent could do the lab using your
write-up. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
State results clearly in the correct format. How to report the results of a statistical test
Briefly summarize
numerical results in words, but give full numerical details in tables.
Always refer to
figures and tables in your text. (e.g., Fig. 1 or Tab. 1)
Discuss
the meaning of the results.
Suggest improvements or further experiments. LITERATURE
CITED How to cite references at the end of your paper Check your spelling and grammar with your word processor tools before submitting your draft or final version.
Type all written reports using Microsoft Word double-spaced 10-point font. Electronic write ups are due by 5:00 pm on their due date. (10 points late fee per day.)
Title of file must be: Quizzes: Start at 2 pm sharp and last 5 minutes. Very short answer over the previous lab. If you are going to be absent for an unavoidable reasons, call me on or before the day of the lab to arrange makeup.
To avoid a late fee, you
must make up missed lab quizzes before the next lab. Your
integrity is my assumption.
You are responsible for understanding the Policy
on Academic Integrity at UNCC, particularly the section on plagiarism
and its most common form, unacknowledged
paraphrase.
Copying on exams will result in an "F" for a semester grade in the
course. As
a condition of taking this course, all writing assignments may be subject to
review by Turnitin.com
for the detection of plagiarism. All submitted papers will be included
as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference database solely for
the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. |