Discuss how the data supports or refutes your hypothesis

SOURCE IS NEEDED FOR INTRODUCTION ONLY

TITLE: Rate of Photosynthesis in Spinach Leaf Disks in Different Environments

I need you to write and the introduction and conclusion of my lab report.

Hypothesis: In a light environment, if more disks float, more oxygen is produced.

As time passes more oxygen is floating in the light reaction.

If the concentration of CO2 is more, more discs will float to the top.

ABSTRACT WRITTEN MYSELF:

The purpose of this experiment was to measure the rate of photosynthesis, by looking at how many spinach leaf discs were in light and dark circumstances while on a petri dish of sodium-bicarbonate solution. First, we put the spinach discs in .2% of sodium bicarbonate in a syringe and made sure everything was covered and submerged. Next, we took out the discs and put them into two Petri dishes, 15 in each. Then we covered one with foil for our dark environment. Before turning on the lights, on top of each of them, we put 800mL of water in a beaker to act as a heat shield. We recorded how many of them floated up every 5 minutes counting to 30 minutes. With the light reaction, more discs floated up because in photosynthesis you need light, meaning more oxygen is released. The dark reaction didn’t have any discs floating up because in photosynthesis you need light for the reaction. After we finished this experiment, we did the same thing over again, but with a 2% of sodium bicarbonate solution, which is stronger. We only did this experiment in the light, we noticed since there was more carbon dioxide, the discs floated up much faster. The results supported the hypothesis of the experiment.

Introduction Guidelines:

Give context about the study, background information, and state the hypotheses (2 total, 1 for each experiment) with rationale (what prior knowledge did you base them on, why did you hypothesize what you did?)

An introduction should begin with general information and then focus on specifics. In scientific writing, we call this the “inverted pyramid”

Some ideas of what you could discuss in your introduction for the enzymes lab report include but are not limited to: Proteins as enzymes,  Enzymes in general (what is their function?), How do enzymes catalyze reactions? (lowering activation energy), Catalase (where is it found and what reaction it facilities), Factors that influence reaction rate of enzymatic reactions

You must support every fact stated that is NOT general knowledge with a reference in CSE format.

The introduction should follow this general order:

General information/concepts that encompass your work

General empirical background that has explored these concepts (Empirical evidence is obtained through study, research, and observation)

Application of these concepts to your study

Your research question

Hypothesis and Rationale

Conclusion Guidelines: This will be the most challenging section of the lab report. In the discussion, your goal is to analyze/interpret your data, compare it to your hypothesis, and connect your experiment to research on this topic and what is known already about this topic. Here are a few pointers on what you should be writing about:

Results and statistical analysis must be correctly explained and interpreted. You need to describe the data (examples: averages, p-values, standard deviation, trend lines). Remember, if a p-value is < 0.05, there is a statistically significant difference between the two groups being compared. If the p-value is > 0.05, the two groups are not significantly different. Does your data support or refute your hypothesis?

There needs to be a biologically based discussion and explanation of the conclusions regarding your hypothesis. This basically means that you need to tie in your conclusions from your study to what is already known about the topic. If the experiment didn’t work, what could have gone wrong to explain these results?

Ideas from the introduction are reintroduced and tied back into your experiment, results, and conclusions. Draw similarities or differences between published research and your experimental results. Describe how your results follow or don’t follow what is already known about the topic in general.

The significance of the results and study are discussed. What does your data mean and why is it important? Does your data fit and support what is already known? Is your data similar to what we know in general about the topic and research articles you have used in the introduction?

Future experiments and/or improvements to the experiment are suggested. How could the study be improved? What areas would you like to explore based on your data and conclusions? What other questions would you like to explore through further experimentation?

Your discussion should follow this general order:

Interpret your data

Discuss how the data supports or refutes your hypothesis

Explain how the data answers your research question

Explain the meaning of your data to your study

Explain the meaning of your data to other studies that have explored these concepts

Explain the meaning of your data to general information/concepts that encompass your work

Future experiments and/or improvements