Assignment: Rough Draft of the Final Report
You are required to develop a rough draft for your Final Lab Report, which covers the drinking water quality experiment from the Week Two Lab assignment "Lab 2: Water Quality and Contamination." Please use the Week Three Assignment Template for preparing your rough draft to insure that you include all required components in a well-organized manner. Before completing this Template, view the Tutorial on the Rough Draft of the Final Lab Report Template so that you have a clear picture on how to use the template most effectively. This rough draft must also be reviewed using the Grammarly tool from the Writing Center to help you identify and correct any mistakes to your rough draft. Be sure to submit a screen shot of the Grammarly report and the corrected rough draft to the Week Three Assignment box. This resource will show you how to take a screen shot on your computer and upload it to Waypoint successfully.
For a written transcript.
Complete the following steps to submit both reports:
1. Carefully read the instructions for your Final Lab Report assignment located within Week Five of the course..
2. Download the Rough Draft of the Final Lab Report Template and utilize this form to ensure correct formatting and inclusion of all required material.
3. View the Tutorial on the Rough Draft of the Final Lab Report Template so that you can apply the template with success.
4. Use at least two scholarly sources, two credible sources, and your lab manual to support your points.
5. The rough draft must be three to five pages in length (excluding title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style. For information regarding APA samples and tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center.
6. Use the Grammarly tool to proofread your paper before submitting it for grading. Grammarly is a free proofreading program available to all Ashford students.
a. To learn how to set up and use Grammarly, watch the Grammarly tutorial.
b. Upload your paper to Grammarly and take a screen shot of your reviewed paper. Need help taking a screen shot? See this handout.
c. Save the Grammarly screenshot to your computer and submit it along with your assignment. This means that you will submit two documents to Waypoint: the Grammarly screen shot and your corrected rough draft.
Note: Need help using Grammarly? Email the Writing Center at [email protected].
Note: Please do not use www.grammarly.com to sign up as you will get limited feedback. Ashford University pays for additional fabulous Grammarly services so you don't have to. If you encounter any problems or technical issues, please contact: [email protected]
The Rough Draft of the Final Lab Report must contain the following seven sections in this order:
1. Title Page - This page must include the title of your report, your name, course name, instructor, and date submitted.
2. Introduction - This section should discuss why the experiment was conducted. At a minimum, it should contain three paragraphs. One paragraph must cover background information of similar studies that have already been done in the area. This is accomplished by citing existing literature from similar experiments and explaining their results. A second paragraph should discuss an objective or a reason why the experiment is being done. Why do we want to know the answer to the question we are asking? A third paragraph should provide a hypothesis for the experiment conducted, along with your rationale behind that hypothesis.
3. Materials and Methods - This section should provide a detailed description of the materials used in your experiment and how they were used. A step-by-step rundown of your experiment is necessary; however, it should be done in paragraph form, not in a list format. The description should be exact enough to allow for someone reading the report to replicate the experiment, but it should be in your own words and not simply copied and pasted from the lab manual.
4. Results - This section should include the data and observations from the experiment. All tables and graphs should be present in this section. Additionally, there should be at least one paragraph explaining the data in paragraph form. There should be no personal opinions or discussion beyond the results of your experiments located within this section.
5. Discussion - This section should interpret or explain the meaning of your data and provide conclusions. At least three paragraphs should be outlined here. First, a paragraph should be present that addresses whether your hypothesis was confirmed or denied and how you know this. Second, you are to discuss the meaning of your findings in this area utilizing scholarly sources to put the paper into context. For example, how do your results compare with the findings of similar studies? Also, you should discuss if there are any outside factors (i.e., temperature, contaminants, time of day) that affected your results. If so, how could you control for these in the future? Finally, you should discuss any future questions arising from your results and how you might test them with new experiments.
6. Conclusions - This section should provide a brief summary of your work. What are the key take-away points from your study?
7. References - Provide a list of at least two scholarly sources, two credible sources, and your lab manual that will be used in the Final Lab Report. Format your references according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Note: An abstract must be included in the Final Lab Report. However, the abstract should not be included in the rough draft as it is to be written last after the entire paper is fully written. Do not forget this in your Final Lab Report.
Requirements of Paper
The Final Lab Report must contain the following eight sections in this order:
1. Title Page - This page must include the title of your report, your name, course name, instructor, and date submitted.
2. Abstract - This section should provide a brief summary of the methods, results, and conclusions. It should allow the reader to see what was done, how it was done, and the results. It should not exceed 200 words and should be the last part written (although it should still appear right after the title page).
3. Introduction - This section should include background information on water quality and an overview of why the experiment was conducted. It should first contain background information of similar studies previously conducted. This is accomplished by citing existing literature from similar experiments. Secondly, it should provide an objective or a reason why the experiment is being done. Why do we want to know the answer to the question we are asking? Finally, it should end the hypothesis from your Week Two experiment, and the reasoning behind your hypothesis. This hypothesis should not be adjusted to reflect the "right" answer. Simply place your previous hypothesis in the report here. You do not lose points for an inaccurate hypothesis; scientists often revise their hypotheses based on scientific evidence following the experiments.
4. Materials and Methods - This section should provide a detailed description of the materials used in your experiment and how they were used. A step-by-step rundown of your experiment is necessary; however, it should be done in paragraph form, not in a list format. The description should be exact enough to allow for someone reading the report to replicate the experiment, however, it should be in your own words and not simply copied and pasted from the lab manual.
5. Results - This section should include the data and observations from the experiment. All tables and graphs should be present in this section. In addition to the tables, you must describe the data in text; however, there should be no personal opinions or discussion outside of the results located within this area.
6. Discussion - This section should interpret your data and provide conclusions. Discuss the meanings of your findings in this area. Was your hypothesis accepted or rejected, and how were you able to determine this? Did the results generate any future questions that might benefit from a new experiment? Were there any outside factors (i.e., temperature, contaminants, time of day) that affected your results? If so, how could you control for these in the future?
7. Conclusions - This section should provide a brief summary of your work.
8. References - List references used in APA format as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
Lab 2 - Water Quality and Contamination
Experiment 1: Drinking Water Quality
POST-LAB QUESTIONS
1. Develop a hypothesis regarding which water sources you believe will contain the most and least contaminants, and state why you believe this. Be sure to clearly rank all three sources from most to least contaminants.
2. Based on the results of your experiment, would accept or reject the hypothesis you produced in question 1? Explain how you determined this.
3. Based on the results of your experiment, what specific differences do you notice among the Dasani, Fiji, and Tap Water?
4. Based upon the fact sheets provided (links at the end of this document), do any of these samples pose a health concern? Use evidence from the lab to support your answer.
5. Based on your results, do you believe that bottled water is worth the price? Use evidence from the lab to support your opinion.
Lab 3 - Biodiversity
Experiment 1: Effects of Water Pollution on Plant Diversity
POST-LAB QUESTIONS
1. What effects did each of the contaminants have on the water in the experiment? Use Table 1 for reference.
2. What kinds of human activities could cause oil, acids, and detergents to contaminate the water supply?
3. What are the differences in color, smell, visibility, etc. between the "contaminated" water and the "treated" water?
4. From the introduction to Lab 2, you know that there are typically five steps involved in the water treatment process. Identify the processes (e.g., coagulation) that were used in this lab and describe how they were performed.
5. Develop a hypothesis regarding how using contaminated or purified water might affect plant biodiversity. Which pot do you believe will contain the greatest biodiversity (greatest number of species)? Why?
6. Based on the results of your experiment, would you reject or accept the hypothesis that you produced in question 5? Explain how you determined this.
7. Alum contains aluminum. Research the effects of aluminum on plants by finding a scholarly source online. Does your research provide any insight into your results? Discuss your findings as they relate to the results of your experiment.
8. Imagine that each pot was a sample you found in a group of wildflowers. Based on the diversity of flowers in each pot, would you consider the ecosystem to be healthy? Why or why not?
9. How does biodiversity contribute to the overall health of an ecosystem? Provide specific examples and utilize at least one scholarly resource to back your answer.
10. Rank the following three scenarios in terms of having the most to least biodiversity and provide your rationale for these rankings.
• A vacant lot behind a car repair facility.
• A designated national wilderness area.
• A grassy strip along the highway.
References
Abedi, M., Bartelheimer, M., & Poschlod, P. (2013). Aluminium toxic effects on seedling root survival affect plant composition along soil reaction gradients - a case study in dry sandy grasslands. Journal Of Vegetation Science, 24(6), 1074-1085. doi:10.1111/jvs.12016
Shah, A (2014) Why Is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares?,Retrieved fromhttps://www.globalissues.org/article/170/why-is-biodiversity-important-who-cares.
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