BIOL 1362: Vitamin C lab write up tips

Ok so this is your first biochemistry lab write up. And you are all excited…

Unfortunately, most people do horrible in their first write up.

Hopefully if you follow these pointers you will be fine.

 

Today I will look at the first half of the write up: Title, Objectives, Introduction, Materials, Procedure

Remember to consult your ‘Introduction to BIOL 1362 labs’ document on myelearning for general information on how to write up labs.

Titles should:

• Describe the main point of the experiment clearly and precisely, so that readers can decide whether to read the report.
• Be brief (aim for 10 words or less)
• Begin  with a keyword rather than an article like ‘The’ or ‘A’.

What are the keywords for this experiment? Put your answers in the comment section of the blog.

Titles should NOT:

• Include wasted words such as “studies on,” “an investigation of”
• Use abbreviations and jargon

Aims:

Students initially have trouble with this. The aims tells the reader what you plan to attain or accomplish in your experiment. In other words what are your objectives for this experiment – What are the activities you are being asked to do in order to complete the lab? Objectives are activities, so be sure to list them as such: to observe, to analyze, to determine something. You can have more than one objective for the experiment. Just list them. This lab is broken into two parts. So there should be at least 2 objectives.

The objectives of the experiment are important to state because these objectives are usually analyzed in the conclusion to determine whether the experiment succeeded.

Introduction

A good introduction provides the background needed to understand the purpose and scope of the work described in the remainder of the report.

The introduction does not contain details of laboratory procedure or data analysis or sources of error. That information is contained in the subsequent sections.

Use this as a guide when creating your introduction for this experiment:

• Chemical structure of ascorbic acid
• The biological role of ascorbic acid in humans. What happens if there is a deficiency?
• The principle behind the assay – chemical reactions, relevant structures etc

YOUR INTRODUCTION MUST BE REFERENCED.

Word limit, unless otherwise stated, is 400 words. Your recommended text is usually a good START to locate information for your introduction. Failure to reference your work and stay within the word limit will result in loss of marks. You are encouraged to include diagrams / figs in your introduction. These must be numbered and referenced as well.

Please note that the burette is a standard piece of equipment used in the lab. Details concerning the manipulation of a burette is NOT required for this write up.

 

Materials and Reagents      

Include a LIST of materials and reagents used. For example 1M HCl (volumes are not required) Do not include common laboratory equipment such as test tubes, beakers, burettes etc

 

Procedure

The procedure must be presented in narrative style in the PAST TENSE. DO NOT ITEMISE OR PUT IN POINT FORM.  You can use paragraphs. THERE SHOULD BE NO TABLES IN THE PROCEDURE. Consider the procedure as a ‘stand-alone’ component, meaning that someone can take your procedure and using your procedure alone have all the information to repeat the lab. This means that when writing your procedure you are NOT allowed to say ‘as seen in the manual etc’

Information on the next half of this lab write-up will be posted next week.

Happy Writing