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Name: ________________________
Teacher’s Name: ________________
Class: ________________________
Date: ________________________
TITLE
How To Use This Lab Skeleton:
The instructions are in ORANGE.
The content is in BLACK. Take out
the orange and type in your responses
in black. You are finished when no
ORANGE remains!
(change this to an original title that sums up the lab)
Prelab Information:
This lab activity contains three kinds of sponge animals (octopus,
lobster, seahorse). The question is, “Do all three types of animals
take the same amount of time to emerge from their capsules?”
Formally, the hypothesis you are testing is called “the null hypothesis,”
abbreviated as H0. For this experiment, our null hypothesis is: All
three kinds of sponge animals will take the same amount of time to
emerge from their capsules.
Although it may seem odd to begin an experiment by assuming that
essentially nothing interesting will happen (i.e., that the animals will
not take different amounts of time to emerge), biologists and other
research scientists always phrase their question in this way. Only if
we reject the null hypothesis do we then conclude that other, often
more interesting alternatives may be true.
PURPOSE: The purpose is the reason why the lab is being done. You type
the purpose of the lab (in your own words) here.
HYPOTHESIS: You type your hypothesis here. A hypothesis is a testable
statement about what you think is going to happen when the experiment is
performed. It should include both a guess AND a reason why you think that
guess is correct.
MATERIALS:
You add a list of what you used.
PROCEDURE:
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5.
Measure (in millimeters) and weigh (in grams) the capsule that you are
given. Record the capsule’s color.
The instructor will provide you with some warm water. Record the
temperature of this water (in degrees Celsius) and then obtain 25ml
(into a 250ml beaker) for your group.
Drop your capsule into the water and record the time. Begin stirring
using the plastic stirrer. Record any observations and notes as the
experiment progresses.
When your animal emerges from the capsule, note the time.
Determine how long it took for the sponge animal to emerge. Note the
type of sponge animal that you received. Note this in the appropriate
data section.
Obtain data from other groups in the classroom.
DATA: Neatly type in your raw data here. Pay attention to significant
figures and units:
Color of capsule: ____________________________________________
Capsule length: _____________________________________________
Capsule width: _____________________________________________
Capsule weight: _____________________________________________
Initial water temperature: ____________________________________
Time at which the capsule was put into the water: __________________
Time at which the sponge animal emerged: ________________________
Type of animal that emerged: _________________________________
Observations and notes: _____________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
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Class Data Table
Type of Animal
Group
Time to Emergence
(minutes:seconds)
Time to Emergence
(seconds)
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For a visual representation, you will always want to graph your data. Pay
attention to where the independent and dependent variables go.
Figure 1: Title (look back in your “How To Make A Graph” notes to see how to
write a good title for a graph)
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Using your answers to these questions write a Conclusion Paragraph.
To get full credit, your interesting and well-written paragraph should contain
answers to all of the questions below.
Conclusion/Analysis Questions:
1. Did all capsules successfully release sponges?
2. Did the class all get the same number of each kind of animal, or
were there more of one kind than another?
3. Did all three types of sponge animal take the same amount of time
to emerge from their capsules?
4. Did animals of any one kind always take the same amount of time to
emerge from their capsules?
5. How long did it take the average octopus (or lobster or seahorse)
to emerge from the capsule?
6. Is the null hypothesis supported or rejected?
7. Could there be any improvements made in this experiment for the
future?
CONCLUSION:
After you have finished writing the Conclusion, go back and write the Title.
The Title should be a short statement that sums up what the entire lab was
about. Be creative! The only title you can’t use, is the one your teacher is
using!
Last-minute check! Did you use the spellchecking feature to make sure your
words are spelled correctly? Are you going to make sure your lab report
prints neatly and is stapled in the upper-left hand corner?