Primary Productivity Investigation Write-Up Overview

Your lab report about how light intensity affects primary productivity will be set up using the general format below.

Throughout the lab report, be sure to use the appropriate vocabulary including words like:  gross productivity, net productivity, primary productivity, autotrophs, heterotrophs, producers, consumers, photosynthesis, respiration, among others.

Introduction:

1. Include a hook and background information. For example:

a. What organism are you working with?

b. What concepts related to class are involved with this experiment?

2. State the essential and experimental question(s) being researched

a. Your experimental question:  

1. How does light intensity affect primary productivity?

3. State the hypothesis that you tested

a. Make sure it is clear and measurable

b. Explain your rationale for your hypothesis.

Methods:

1. Include a brief summary of what you did to carry out the experiment.

2. Identify and describe independent and dependent variables, control and experimental groups, and conditions kept constant (controlled variables).

3. Depict your experimental setup using a diagram.

Results:

1.  Include a rewritten data table that is clean, clear, and easy to read. Also include class data in addition to your own data.

 

2. Include any graphs or calculations that you perform.

Discussion:

1. Make inferences based on your observations.

a. Be sure to refer to your data/observations specifically to support your inferences.

b. Be sure that you answer the experimental question that you were investigating. Make sure that your answer to your question is supported clearly by data/observations.

2. Using the data you collected, make a statement connecting your hypotheses to the data. Were the hypotheses supported or not supported by the results of your experiment?

a. Be sure to refer to your data specifically when evaluating your hypothesis.

 

3. Provide your best explanation for the data that you obtained. In other words, what happened in the experiment to give you the data that you recorded?

a. For example, what happened in each bottle? Why did it occur?

4. Discuss all sources of error and flaws in carrying out the procedure.

a. Discuss each error or flaw in the experiment and the specific impact it may have had on the data and/or how you interpreted it.

b. Based on any and all errors – how reliable are the results and your evaluation of your hypothesis? Do you trust your data? Why or why not?

5. Why is the study of primary productivity important?

a. How can it impact society or the study of environmental science/biology?

b. How can it impact your daily life?

Writing Conventions

When writing about experiments in science class, make sure to:

• Write in the 3rd person and avoid the 1st person – avoid I, we, my, our, etc. as much as possible and instead use phrases such as “the group” or “the hypothesis.”
• Use only the past tense when writing about experiments you did.
• Write in paragraph form with complete sentences – not in bulleted, outline form with the letters and numbers seen above.
• PROOFREAD