Exercise 4: Tables and Figures
Now that you have reviewed the essentials of Tables and graphs (Figures), try your hand at
making a few of each. Use Microsoft Word and/or Excel to create your tables and paragraphs in
a new file.
Example 1: A student wanted to study the effect of phosphorus on plant growth, so she grew
tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum) under different phosphorus treatments. She used a
seris of commercial fertilizers (Vita-Bloom) that all contained 10% nitrogen and 10% potassium
(potash), but varied in their phosphorus content. She used four phosphorus treatments and one
control (no phosphorus), with 25 plants in each group. She grew the plants for 30 days and
calculated the mean stem height (cm) for each group. Here are her results.
Group 1 (no phosphorus)
Group 2 (5% phosphorus)
Group 3 (10% phosphorus)
Group 4 (15% phosphorus)
Group 5 (20% phosphorus)
Mean steam height
Mean steam height
Mean steam height
Mean steam height
Mean steam height
=
=
=
=
=
378 cm
410 cm
450 cm
520 cm
395 cm
Place this data into a Table acceptable for a scientific journal. Be sure to include a Table
heading and number, an explanatory title, appropriate column headings, delimiting lines, units of
measurements, etc.
Additionally, prepare a sample paragraph that would accompany your table in your Results
section.
Example 2: A biologist wanted to know if guppies (Paecilia reticulata) have a temperature
preference. He built a long, rectangular aquarium in which he could vary the water temperature
from one end of the tank to the other. In three separate trials, he placed 50 fish at one time into
the tank, waited 20 minutes, then counted the number of guppies in the different temperature
zones of the take. His results:
Temperature (°C):
No. of guppies in zone:
10°
6
15°
17
20°
85
25°
35
30°
7
Place this data into a Table acceptable for a scientific journal. Be sure to include a Table
heading and number, an explanatory title, appropriate column headings, delimiting lines, units of
measurements, etc.
Additionally, prepare a sample paragraph that would accompany your table in your Results
section.
Neil Hatfield © 2012
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Example 3: A biology student, for a class project, wanted to find out if changing the water
temperature would affect the heart rate of Daphnia magna, the water flea. He exposed several
Daphnia, one at a time, to increasing temperatures and counted their heart rate in beats/minute.
He then averaged the heart rates for five different temperatures. His results:
Mean heart rate for 35 Daphnia at 10°C
Mean heart rate for 25 Daphnia at 15°C
Mean heart rate for 32 Daphnia at 20°C
Mean heart rate for 35 Daphnia at 25°C
Mean heart rate for 34 Daphnia at 30°C
------
125 beats/min
210 beats/min
285 beats/min
350 beats/min
390 beats/min
Place this data into a Table acceptable for a scientific journal. Be sure to include a Table
heading and number, an explanatory title, appropriate column headings, delimiting lines, units of
measurements, etc.
Additionally, prepare a sample paragraph that would accompany your table in your Results
section.
Example 4: A research was testing the effect of a certain growth inhibitor on the germination
and root length of field beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). He measured the root length (in mm) of 25
bean seedlings treated with the inhibitor and 25 seedlings not treated. Measurements were made
every day for 7 days. He then put the data into the following Table:
Day
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Root Length (controls)
0
4.6
15.7
25.6
38.3
43.3
45.0
Root Length (experimental)
0
4.4
12.0
16.5
20.7
25.0
27.1
FIGURE 1. Root lengths of bean seedlings exposed to a growth inhibitor.
There are several things wrong with the above Table. List at least five of them, more if you can.
Redesign the Table to make it suitable for a scientific journal.
Neil Hatfield © 2012
2
Example 5: Patients with high cholesterol levels in their blood were divided into two groups of
30 each to test whether or not a new drug (Drug X) was effective in lowering blood cholesterol.
One group received the drug, the other a placebo (a fake drug that has no effect). Cholesterol
levels (mg of cholesterol per deciliter of blood) of the two groups were measured every month
for 6 months. At the end of the study the researcher made the following graph:
Graph 1. Patients' cholesterol levels
with and without drug treament.
260
Cholesterol
240
220
200
180
160
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Month
There are several things wrong with this graph. List at least 5 of them; more if you can.
Example 6: Here is the actual data from which the graph in Example 5 was constructed. Use
the data to make a correctly designed graph suitable for a scientific journal, with appropriate axes,
headings, and legend. Additionally, prepare a sample paragraph that would accompany your
Figure in your Results section.
Month:
Controls:
Experimentals:
Neil Hatfield © 2012
1
240
225
2
225
210
3
230
195
4
235
185
5
240
180
6
235
175
3
Example 7: Take the data from Example 3 (heart rate of Daphnia) and put it into a properly
designed graph suitable for a scientific journal. Be sure to included appropriate axes, headings,
and legend. Additionally, prepare a sample paragraph that would accompany your table in your
Results section.
Example 8: Sixty pea seeds (Pisum satvium) were divided into 3 group of 20 each. Group one
was soaked in a solution of indoleacetic acid (IAA). Group two was soaked in a solution of
gibberellic acid (GA). Group three served as a control group (no treatment). All seeds were then
allowed to germinate. Root lengths of each seedling were measured in mm on days 2, 4, 6, and 8.
The mean root lengths for each group were as follows;
Group 1, Day 2 – 9 mm
Day 4 – 50 mm
Day 6 – 86 mm
Day 8 – 117 mm
Group 2, Day 2 – 7 mm
Day 4 – 42 mm
Day 6 – 75 mm
Day 8 – 102 mm
Group 3, Day 2 – 8 mm
Day 4 – 32 mm
Day 6 – 65 mm
Day 8 – 96 mm
Place this data into a graph suitable both for the data as well as for a scientific journal. Be sure
to included appropriate axes, headings, and legend. Additionally, prepare a sample paragraph
that would accompany your table in your Results section.
Neil Hatfield © 2012
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