Running Head: ALL CAPS TITLE OF THE PAPER (no more than 50 characters)
Title (The Effect of IV on DV)
By Name
Air Academy High School
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Running Head: ALL CAPS TITLE OF THE PAPER (no more than 50 characters)
TITLE (The Determination of…)
Reminders for the entire
lab report
1.
NO PERSONAL PRONOUNS
(me, I, you etc.)
2. AVOID SLANG & CASUAL
SPEECH, CONTRACTIONS etc.
Abstract
Write this last! The abstract is a brief, written explanation of the experiment consisting of a
succinct description of the experiment’s purpose, the procedures followed, the data collected,
and the conclusions reached.
More specifically:
a. The abstract should be in ONE paragraph.
b. It should be in PAST tense.
a. REMEMBER: No part of the lab report should contain personal pronouns!
c. It should contain the purpose, the hypothesis, how the hypothesis was tested (IV,
DV, Controls), and the results.
a. The hypothesis (H1) should be a single statement telling the exact thing
you are trying to demonstrate in your experiment. NEVER write this
statement using “first person”. . If – then – because format You should
also include your NULL hypothesis (H0) in this section
d. The abstract should be in the following format:
The purpose of this experiment was to test (your research questions).It was hypothesized that
(your hypotheses in if, then because format). The hypotheses were tested by… (explain what you
did – your IV), and measuring (your DV). The following controls were in place… The data
supported/failed to support/partially supported the hypothesis.
e. Keep in mind that the abstract should only be a ONE paragraph summary.
Methods and results will be explained in detail in the rest of the report.
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Running Head: ALL CAPS TITLE OF THE PAPER (no more than 50 characters)
Introduction
The background should give background information about the biological concepts
investigated in the experiment. This is where you will put all the information you found doing
your research BEFORE and AFTER the experiment started. You must identify your
references after your information (parenthetical citations) and list the reference in the
citations section of your Lab Report. You should also have parenthetical citations. This
section may be significant in length. You can include illustrations as well, where appropriate.
If you are using images that you did not create you MUST cite them. You must also discuss
relevancy to the big ideas in AP Biology. Remember your audience should be non-experts.
Clearly define all terms etc.
A Key vocabulary section should be included at the end of this section.
Use APA format only. This is what is required in all science classes in college and above.
Citations
Must be in APA format! Include the book, lab handout, lecture notes and anything else you used
to help. Bozeman videos are a great resource!
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Running Head: ALL CAPS TITLE OF THE PAPER (no more than 50 characters)
Methods
Materials
● Must be bulleted.
● Include quantities used in parenthesis (2)
● Sizes of equipment should also be included 100mL
● You should include everything you actually used
● Do not include items listed in the lab handout that were NOT used.
Procedures

This section should include a DETAILED description of the procedure you used.

It should be past tense, third person, passive voice and bulleted

Describe the methods associated with controls, IV, DV etc.

Also include procedures for collecting data
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Running Head: ALL CAPS TITLE OF THE PAPER (no more than 50 characters)
Results
This should include tables. Tables MUST include borders, titles, headings and dates
Your data MUST include both quant and qual data
Appropriate units and precision are required
You should also have a photo or drawn diagram of your results. Also include, titles etc. for
diagrams/photos.
Address ALL questions in the data collection section of the lab handout. (pages 12 & 13)
Calculations This is PART of the data section.
Here is where you include a sample calculation of all calculations used in this experiment.
Included is a guide below. Note you may have more calculations that you need to show examples
of than what is listed below.
1. Determining the Total Number of Transformed Green Fluorescent Colonies
2. Total amount of pGLO DNA, μg used in this experiment =
(DNA in μg) = (concentration of DNA in μg/μl) x (volume of DNA in μl)
A. How can this piece of information be used?
3. Determining the fraction of pGLO plasmid DNA (in the bacteria)
Fraction of DNA used =(Sample volume spread on LB/amp/ara plate,μl)/(Total sample volume
in microcentrifuge tube,μl)
Fraction of DNA used= (100 μl)/(Total sample volume in microcentrifuge tube,μl)
Fraction of DNA used= (100 μl)/(10μl DNA+250μlCaCl2+250μl luria broth)
Fraction of DNA used=10/51μl = .196
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Running Head: ALL CAPS TITLE OF THE PAPER (no more than 50 characters)
B. How can this piece of information be used?
4. So how many micrograms of pGLO DNA are spread on the LB/amp/ara plate?
pGLO DNA spread (μg) = amount of DNA used (μg) x fraction of DNA
C. What will this number be used for?
Number of colonies on LB/amp/ara plate =
pGLO DNA spread on the plate, μg =
transformation efficiency = (Total number of colonies growing on the agar plate)/(amount of
DNA spread on the agar plate (in μg))
Transformation efficiency= ______ transformants/μg
D. How would scientists report 10,000 transformants/μg in scientific notation?
E. How would scientists report 40,000 transformants/μg in scientific notation?
F. How would scientists report 960,000 transformants/μg in scientific notation?
5. Report the calculated transformation efficiency in scientific notation
G. Use a sentence or two to explain what this calculation of transformation efficiency means
Biotechnologists generally agree that the transformation protocol just completed usually has a
transformation efficiency of between 8.0 x 10^2 and 7.0 x 10^3 transformants per microgram of
DNA.
6. How does the transformation efficiency found compared with that given above?
7. Relation to other values found in the lab
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Running Head: ALL CAPS TITLE OF THE PAPER (no more than 50 characters)
Discussion
Topics to discuss (in paragraph form)
Describe and summarize results (trends you see in your data)
Relate your results to your hypothesis. (does the data support/fail to support or partially suppor
your hypothesis?) Your hypothesis will be related to your plate predictions.
Relate your results to the purpose of this lab.
Error Analysis (within Discussion section, in a separate paragraph(s)): (60 points)
Identified problems encountered, experimental weaknesses or possible sources of error. EVERY
experiment has sources of error!
The effects of these weaknesses/errors on your results
How to realistically overcome or avoid these weaknesses/errors in the future
*Human error or “my partner is an idiot” are not valid reasons for error. If you made mistakes,
they should have been corrected by repeating the procedure.
Include any important FACTORS that you think may have influenced your results. Specifically:
a. Discuss the types of errors present in the lab and explain how they entered the lab and
influenced your results. Note: Sources of error are NOT mistakes!! These are any
things that could influence your DV that were not your IV.
b. Each source of error is its own paragraph. This section is NOT a list.
c. It should be in the following format:
The validity and /or reliability of the results may have been influenced by the
following factors; First….
A second source of error… ETC.
d. You should have AT least 3 (for a C in this section) and they MUST be explained!!
e. The explanation must include:
a. The specifics of what the sources of error are.
b. HOW they affected the data. So how did they influence growth of the bacteria?
c. Finally, you should discuss possible SOLUTIONS for each source of error.
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Running Head: ALL CAPS TITLE OF THE PAPER (no more than 50 characters)
Conclusion
In a paragraph, use the results from the lab investigation to answer the original problem.
Basically summarize what was learnt in this investigation. Include any areas of further
investigation or changes you would make to the existing procedure to improve the lab activity.
Include possible avenues for further research based on your results.
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Running Head: ALL CAPS TITLE OF THE PAPER (no more than 50 characters)
Analysis Questions
1. How did the traits originally observed for E. coli alter?
2. If the transformed cells have acquired the ability to grow in the presence of ampicillin,
then what might be inferred about their ability to glow bright green under UV light?
3. From the results that were obtained, how can evidence be provided to support the
hypothesis/argument that the changes that occurred were due to the procedure that was
performed?
4. Look again at the four plates. Can it be observed that some E. coli growing on the LB
plate that does not contain ampicillin or arabinose?
5. What might happen to these bacteria if the bacteria are moved to plates containing
ampicillin?
6. Often an organism’s traits are caused by a combination of its genes and its environment.
Think about the green color seen in the genetically transformed bacteria as these
questions are considered:
a. What two factors must be present in the bacteria’s environment to see the green
color?
b. Provide another example of a change in the environment causing expression of a
different trait?
c. What advantage would there be for an organism to be able to turn on or off
particular genes in response to certain conditions?
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