Introduction to a Lab Report Text

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writing the introduction although this may come as a surprise to many, the introduction section of a report should be one of the last sections written. And discussion sections, you have outlined the issues that your report discusses. The introduction sets the framework for the entire report and shows the readers and your professors that you understand the purpose of the study you have done.

Explaining the overall purpose of the experiment is the most important part of the introduction and is generally used to conclude this section pechenik, p. In the examples presented here, the reports are written on experiments rather than studies. Experiments always involve the testing of a specific hypothesis, whereas studies do not. Insect collections, simple observations, and any work done that do not require manipulation are referred to as studies rather than as experiments pechenik, p.97.

stating the question one very important part of the introduction section is outlining the purpose of the experiment as concisely as possible. Stating the question or questions that are to be answered by the experiment can easily be introduced with the phrase in this experiment or in this study and then explained from there. These statements should be as specific as possible to demonstrate a clear understanding of the experiment. The purpose of these statements is to explain what the experiment does and how the results will be interpreted. The use of the personal plural we is acceptable in the introduction, and present or past tense can be used in the introduction section. Either active voice we measured or passive voice it was measured can be used depending on which the professor prefers. Once the question that the experiment attempts to answer has been stated, the background information p.

The general guidelines for writing about the background information can be found in a short guide to writing about biology pp. Bishop's questions about a journal article for general tips on how to read scientific journals with an eye for the most important information. general guidelines for writing the background information of an introduction section 1. Back all statements of fact with a reference to your textbook, laboratory manual, outside reading, or lecture notes.

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Define specialized terminology. any terms that are used within the report that are necessary for understanding the report should be defined within the introduction. For more basic biology classes, most of the scientific terms need to be defined because they are new to the writer. In higher level biology courses the terms that are assumed to be understood do not require definition. A good rule of thumb if you don't understand a certain term or concept, then you need to explain it in your introduction! 3.

Never set out to prove, verify, or demonstrate the truth about something. rather, set out to test, document, or describe. Nothing can be proven indisputably in science, and it is important to keep an open mind when interpreting the results of your experiment. If it were not for people looking for the new and unexpected, nothing would ever be discovered! 4. Be brief. only information that is relevant to the experiment should be presented in the introduction. Any description and explanation that is necessary for understanding the purpose of the experiment should also be included. Write an introduction for the study that you ended up doing. if an experiment is altered by the professor in any way, the introduction and the entire report should be about the experiment actually performed. Be sure to take careful note of any changes made during the experiment as well because this could change the overall purpose of the experiment, which the introduction section describes.

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The following text includes two samples of an introduction for an enzyme kinetics lab. italicized words are links to explanations of why that particular part of the introduction is important and what makes the sentences appropriate or in need of improvement. sample 1: this study, enzyme kinetics, focuses on the study of enzymes and what makes them work. enzymes are an important part of every living organism and many studies have been performed on them to try to learn more about how they work. Enzymes are involved in a lot of the digestion processes in the human body. The object of this experiment, however, is to get the substrate, catechol, to the product, benzoquinone, by way of the enzyme, catecholase.

experiment one alters the amount of enzyme to prove that the more enzyme you have, the faster the reaction takes place and a greater amount of product results. ? sample 2: it is well known that enzymes are catalytic proteins which function to accelerate reactions by lowering the activation energy campbell, 1996. an enzyme is very specific in the reactions in which it undergoes: it contains an active site that allows only certain reactants, known as substrates, to bind to it campbell, 1996. Referred to as the variable enzyme experiment, we examined the rate of reaction of catechol and oxygen to form benzoquinone when the amounts of the enzyme catecholase were varied. We hypothesized that enzyme amount affects reaction rates and thus we expected that reactions with increased amounts of enzyme relative to the amount of substrate will have a greater net conversion of substrates than those reactions with a lesser ratio of enzyme to substrate.

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Likewise, in order to maintain its specific function, an enzyme must retain the specialized shape of its active site campbell, 1996. environmental factors such as ionic concentration and ph have been known to alter the conformation of a protein and subsequently its active site conformation. in this experiment , referred to as the variable ph experiment, we examined the rate of reaction of catechol and oxygen again, but this time when the ph was varied.