AP Biology
Photosynthesis and Plant Pigment Chromatography Lab Write-Up Expectations
You will be writing a results AND a conclusion/discussion section for this assignment. It would
be wise to review the approach for writing each of these sections of the lab report by either
perusing the Lab Report Guidelines handout on the class website or by visiting the LabWrite
website (http://www.ncsu.edu/labwrite).
In general, your write-up should include the following:
Results Section
1) A data table that displays the rates of photosynthesis for each of the experimental
conditions.
2) One graph showing the rates of photosynthesis for each of the experimental conditions.
3) A data table that displays the Rf value for each of the photosynthetic pigment bands that
were observed on the chromatography/filter paper.
Conclusion Section
Paragraph 1: Restate your original hypothesis for the photosynthesis lab. Discuss whether or
not the data collected during the experiment supports or refutes this hypothesis. Be sure to cite
specific examples from your data.
Paragraph 2: Compare your group’s data to the pristine data collected by your instructor. Does
my data further support your hypothesis?
Paragraph 3: Discuss the results of the chromatography experiment.
Helpful Hints
-Be descriptive as you summarize your results.
Example: As can be seen on Figure 1, there was an increase in the mass of the
dialysis bag as the concentration of the sucrose solution was increased.
-Use a descriptive title for every figure.
!
“Mass of Dialysis Bags” is not descriptive.
!
“The Concentration of Sucrose Solution Affects the Diffusion of Water into Dialysis
Bags” is a descriptive title.
-Be certain that you know what a correlation coefficient represents.
A R-value close to 1.00 is indicative of a relationship between the two variables. It does
not necessarily mean that there is a linear relationship. A R-value below 0.50 suggests
no relationship/correlation.