Genetics2416 KeepingaLaboratoryNotebook

Studentsoftenwonderexactlywhatneedstobeincludedinalabnotebook.Yourlab notebookservesasanarchiveofallthedatathatyouproduceinthelab,complete withadescriptionofhowyouobtainedthedataandhowyouinterpretedyour results.Sincethisnotebookistheprimarysourceofrawdata,itisoftenreferredto inalltypesoflaboratorysettingsagainandagainovertime.Itisessential,therefore, thatenoughdescriptionofhowtheexperimentswereperformedandhowtheraw datawasinterpretedbeincludedforfuturereference.Oftenlabnotebooksin commercialorresearchlabsbecomelegaldocumentsusedinlegalproceedingsto establishthebasisforapatentclaimorlitigation,soscientistsmustlearntokeepa clear,wellorganized,andcarefullogoftheirdailyfindingsinthesenotebooks. Inorderforalaboratorynotebooktobealegallyvaliddocument,itmustbeabound notebook,notaspiralorlooseleafnotebookfromwhichpagescanberemoved.The pagesshouldbenumberedandpagesshouldneverbetornout.Yourentriesinthis notebookshouldbechronological,andgapsorblankpagesshouldnotbeleft.You shouldrecordthedatesoftheexperimentsthatyouperform.Atableofcontentsin thefirstfewpagesofthenotebookshouldincludeadescriptivetitleandpage numberforeachexperimentinthenotebook. Ingeneral,laboratorynotebooksmustincludealltheinformationyoumight possiblyneedinthefuture,evenifitseemsobviousortrivialatthemoment.A laboratorynotebookshouldbecompleteenoughthatyouoranotherpersoncould exactlyrepeatyourworkbasedoninformationinthenotebook.Itisimportantthat yourwritingbeclearandlegible,sothatanyonecanreadandunderstandyour information.Usecompletesentencesandcorrectgrammar,avoidingindefinite pronouns,inordertomakeyourthoughtscleartoothers.Makesurethatthe informationthatyouarerecordingiscomplete.Eitherwritedownallthestepsin theprocedurethatyoufollowedorrefertothemanualwheretheprocedureis found.Besuretodistinguishbetweenwhatyouplannedtodoandwhatyouactually did.Allproblems,mistakes,observations,andchangesintheprocedureshouldbe includedinyournotebook.Whereappropriate,diagramsofequipmentandsetups, chemicalformulas,samplecalculations,andotherillustrationsoftheworkshould beincluded.Recorddetailssuchasweightsofreagents,balancesorother instrumentsused,temperatureandhumidity(ifrelevant),dilutionsprepared, standardsused,etc.Troubleshootinganexperimentgonebadlyisdifficultwithout theseessentialdetails.Rawdatashouldberecordedinclearlyexplainedtablesthat includeheadersandtheunitsofmeasurementforalltabulateddata,aswellasatitle thatbrieflyexplainsthedata.Enterallobservationsanddatadirectlyintothe notebooknotontoapapertowelorthebackofyourhand.Datashouldbe recordedininkandshouldnotbealteredoredited.Whenmistakesaremade,the errorshouldbesimplycrossedoutandthecorrectionshouldbewritten immediatelyfollowing.Apaperoutputfromaninstrumentorphotoscanbetaped directlyintoalabnotebookaslongastheinformationisclearlyexplained.Tomake 1

surethatyouhaveincludedalltherelevantinformationinyournotebook,itis usefultofollowastandardformatforscientificreports,whichincludesan introduction,procedure,results,anddiscussionsection. Introduction Backgroundinformationthatwillassistyouinunderstandingtheprinciplesand proceduresusedintheexerciseshouldbedescribedhere.Thegeneralapproach takentoachieveyourobjectivesforthisexerciseshouldbebrieflydescribed. Procedure Thematerialsandmethodsusedinyourexperimentshouldbedescribedhere.To simplifyandclarifytheprocedure,useflowdiagramsand/ortablesasmuchas possible.Also,drawingsareworthpagesofwords,andwillhelpyoutoremember howthingsweredone. Results Thisiswheretherawdataisrecordedintablesandwhereanycalculationsor graphsaredonewiththerawdata.Besureyoudescribethedatawithsufficient detailthatanyonereadingyourbookwillknowwhatthedatarepresents.Your resultsshouldrepresentexactlywhatyouhaveobserved,andnotwhatyouhad expectedtofind. Discussion Hereiswhereyouanalyzeyourresults.Whatdidyoudiscover?Didyour experimentansweryourquestions?Ifnot,canyouexplainwhy?Didyouobtainthe resultthatyouhadexpected?Werethereproblemsinyourexperimentthat renderedaresultquestionable?Howcouldyouhaveovercomethesedifficultiesin ordertoobtainbetterresults? BIOL1406Cellular&MolecularBiologyLabReportChecklist Generalformat Didyouusecompletesentencesanddidyouusethepassivevoice? Didyoubeginyoursentenceswithacapitalizedword? Didyoutitleyoursections:Introduction,Procedure,Results,Discussion,andPost LabQuestions? TableofContents Didyouwritethetitleofthisexperiment? Didyouincludethepagenumberwherethisreportbegins? Title Didyoubeginyourreportwithadescriptivetitle? Didyouincludeyourpartnersnames? Didyouincludethedatethatyouperformedtheexperiment? Introduction Didyoudescribethepurposefordoingthisexperiment:whatyousetoutto discoverand/orthequestion(s)youintendedtoanswer? Didyouexplaintherelevanceofthequestionordiscoverythatyousetouttostudy? Didyousummarizethegeneralapproachthatyoutookinthisstudy? Didyousummarizethespecializedtechniquesthatwererequiredinthisstudy? Procedure Didyoudescribetheequipmentused? 2

Didyoudescribethetechniquesused? Didyouincludeimportantdetailssuchasincubationtimes,incubation temperatures,volumesused,solutionconcentrationsandpH? Didyouincludesamplecalculations? Wereyourdescriptionsdetailedenoughthatabiologystudentfromanotherschool couldfollowyourinstructionstosuccessfullyperformthisexperiment? Results Didyoudescribeand/ordrawallobservationsmadeduringyourexperiment? Didyoutabulateallyourrawdata? Didyougraphindependent(Xaxis)anddependent(Yaxis)variablestoshow mathematicalrelationships? Doyourgraphsandtableshavedescriptivetitlesfordatasets? Doallyourgraphsandtableshaveunitsofmeasurementfordatasets? Doallyourfigures(graphsanddrawings)andtitleshavetitlesandnumbers? Doyourgraphswithmorethanonelineplottedhaveafigurelegendtoidentifydata sets? Didyouselectthelinearrangeofabsorbanceplots(whereBeersLawisobeyed)for drawingthebestfittingstraightline? Discussion Didyouanalyzeandexplainallofyourrawdata? Wereyouabletodrawanyconclusionsfromyourresults? Wereyouabletoanswerthequestion(s)thatyousetouttoanswer? Didyouexplainwhyyouwereunabletoansweranyquestionsthatyousetoutto answer? Didyouincludeyourreasoningforconclusionsdrawn? References Didyouneedtosearchthescientificliterature(otherthanyoulabmanual)for information? Didyoulistyouroutsidesourceshere?