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10.3: Lab Report

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    105834

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    Data Collection

    Part 1: Observe the Effects of Catalase

    Procedure

    • What happened when H2O2 was added to the potato in test tube A?
    • What caused this to happen?
    • What happened in test tube B?
    • What was the purpose of the water in tube B?

    Part 2: Effects of pH, Temperature, and Substrate Concentration

    Questions

    • How does temperature affect the ability of enzymes to catalyze chemical reactions?
    • How does pH affect the ability of enzymes to catalyze chemical reactions?
    • What is the effect of substrate concentration on the rate of enzyme catalyzed reactions?

    Hypotheses

    Based on the questions above, come up with some possible hypotheses. These should be general, not specific, statements that are possible answers to your questions.

    • Temperature hypothesis
    • pH hypothesis
    • Substrate concentration hypothesis

    Test Your Hypotheses

    Based on your hypotheses, design a set of experiments to test your hypotheses. Use your original experiment to shape your ideas. You have the following materials available:

    Write your procedure to test each hypothesis. You should have three procedures, one for each hypothesis. Make sure your instructor checks your procedures before you continue.

    • Procedure 1: Temperature
    • Procedure 2: pH
    • Procedure 3: Concentration

    Results

    Record your results—you may want to draw tables. Also record any observations you make. Interpret your results to draw conclusions.

    • Do your results match your hypothesis for each experiment?
    • Do the results reject or fail to reject your hypothesis and why?
    • What might explain your results? If your results are different from your hypothesis, why might they differ? If the results matched your predictions, hypothesize some mechanisms behind what you have observed.

    Communicating Your Findings

    Scientists generally communicate their research findings in written reports. Save the data and findings you have recorded above. You will be use them to write a lab report a little later in the course.

    Use the guidelines below to complete your lab report. Your report should be typed, use 12-point font, and be double-spaced.

    Sections of a Lab Report

    • Title Page: The title describes the focus of the research. The title page should also include the student’s name, the lab instructor’s name, and the lab section.
    • Introduction: The introduction provides the reader with background information about the problem and provides the rationale for conducting the research. The introduction should incorporate and cite outside sources. You should avoid using websites and encyclopedias for this background information. The introduction should start with more broad and general statements that frame the research and become more specific, clearly stating your hypotheses near the end.
    • Methods: The methods section describes how the study was designed to test your hypotheses. This section should provide enough detail for someone to repeat your study. This section explains what you did. It should not be a bullet list of steps and materials used; nor should it read like a recipe that the reader is to follow. Typically this section is written in first person past tense in paragraph form since you conducted the experiment.
    • Results: This section provides a written description of the data in paragraph form. What was the most reaction? The least reaction? This section should also include numbered graphs or tables with descriptive titles. The objective is to present the data, not interpret the data. Do not discuss why something occurred, just state what occurred.
    • Discussion: In this section you interpret and critically evaluate your results. Generally, this section begins by reviewing your hypotheses and whether your data support your hypotheses. In describing conclusions that can be drawn from your research, it is important to include outside studies that help clarify your results. You should cite outside resources. What is most important about the research? What is the take-home message? The discussion section also includes ideas for further research and talks about potential sources of error. What could you improve if you conducted this experiment a second time?

    Contributors and Attributions

    CC licensed content, Original
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    This page titled 10.3: Lab Report is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Darcy Ernst, May Chen, Katie Foltz, and Bridget Greuel (Open Educational Resource Initiative at Evergreen Valley College) .