Q Worth: 30 points (10 points for group work – Introduction, Methods, and Conclusion sections, and 20 for your work – Results and Discussion sections) This document is seven pages. Read all pages carefully. General Requirements 1. Your group paper must be double-spaced, be well organized, and use good grammar. All group members will contribute their portion of the writing assignment to the group paper. Only one copy will be submitted for the group which will include all group member contributions. 2. Your paper (and paper sections) must be submitted electronically by using the appropriate folder on Canvas for this course. You must submit a document in one of the following formats (with one of the listed filename extensions): * Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) Preferred * portable document format (.pdf) Microsoft Works (.wps) is NOT acceptable nor is Pages (.pages). The first part of your file name must be your last names or pod number and the rest of the file name must be short and simple; for example, "Carlisle Water". Several minutes after submitting a file to the assignment folder, you should check the folder to: * Verify that your file was successfully uploaded; * Open your file to verify that it is the correct and complete file for grading; * Check the originality report and determine if you want to make any corrections to your file, and then resubmit before the deadline. Your concerns should be about lengthy highlighted portions of your answers that are not in quotes. Please note that your receipt of an email stating that your file was successfully uploaded is meaningless in regards to the topics described above. Once the Dropbox closes, the last file submitted will be the file graded. 3. Read, understand, and follow: • “Academic Integrity” section of the course syllabus • Do not copy from any source without providing a citation of a reference to provide credit (acknowledgement) for the source of the information. Also use quotes if appropriate, but try to minimize the direct quotations being used. Penalties for plagiarism and cheating are covered in the course syllabus. • Read the example papers on Canvas Your paper will automatically be checked for plagiarism. Your paper will be compared with a variety of sources, including the internet, books, and papers submitted by other students around the country. A majority of your paper must be in your own words—not quotes. Highlighted portions in your originality report should be short phrases, data tables, headings provided by the instructor, and what you have quoted. Highlighted sentences with no quotes indicate plagiarism. You can view the originality report after you submit your paper. If necessary, you can make changes in your paper and then submit another document. The assignment folder will keep each file that you submit. The course syllabus states that cheating includes “submitting the same work in more than one course for credit without permission from the instructor.” If you have previously submitted any of your lab paper in any course, you must discuss your options with the instructor. General Paper Instructions: 4. Each Student in your group will be responsible for writing about a single set of experiments. The 4 sets of experiments (these will be assigned by the instructor) are: * 1. Solvent Abilities (sections A through B) * 2. Temperature Properties * 3. Cohesive Properties (sections A and B) * 4. Cohesive Properties sections C and D and Solvent Abilities section C 5. The Introduction will be a collaborative effort among the group members as will the Methods section. 6. The Introduction should describe what was done in the experiments and what hypotheses were being tested in each of the experiments. It should also include background information about why the experiments were done (e.g., why do we care about water in biology?). 7. The Methods section should describe how you conducted the experiment (For some observational experiments, there will be no experimental methods section since no experiment was actually conducted). All methods material should go in the same methods section. 8. Individual group members will be responsible for writing up the results section and the discussion section for their assigned experiments (see #4 above). For this portion of the paper, you will only be graded on your section. 9. For Your Specific Results (Data): • Include data from every group. You will need to compare your assigned group data with that of the class (especially if your group got different results than the others). • Good tables and graphs should be made in MS Word or Excel and then incorporated into your paper. Using photographs of tables from the classroom board are NOT acceptable. • Good tables and graphs are logically organized and have descriptive headings—see examples of quality tables and graphs in the textbook and Lab Manual. Descriptive means enough information is provided so that a reader can interpret the table (or graph) without having any additional information. Headings are frequently in the following format: The effects of (independent variable) on (dependent variable)., followed by important information about the data to help the reader understand the figure or table. • The figures and tables should be numbered sequentially for reference (Table 1, Figure 1, Table 2, Figure 2, etc.) • Do not explain why anything happened or what might have gone wrong here. Save that for the discussion section. 10. For your Discussion (interpretation of data): INCLUDE DISCUSSION OF CLASS AND YOUR GROUP RESULTS IN THE DISCUSSION SECTION • This is the most important section of your paper. In this section you interpret the data and explain why your experiments and observations worked the way they did. This will usually require that you reread the Lab Manual carefully, read and understand the material in your textbook and lecture notes, and use (and cite) other references. • Compare your group’s data with the class data. Explain probable reasons for any differences. What sources of error are you aware of that may have affected the data? What would you do differently to reduce any errors if you repeated the experiment? Think about potential experimental errors based on the information you were given. • Explain why the data do or do not make sense chemically. To do this, you will need to compare the data to what is scientifically known. Describe what was happening at the molecular level that caused your observations or results to occur. You should read and understand the document, “Essential Chemistry for Biologists” on Canvas. For any chemical explanation, do not just say molecules were “broken down” or “broken up,” since they are not specific enough to provide much chemical meaning. Use the proper vocabulary! • Explain why the data do or do not make sense biologically. To do this, you will need to compare the data to what is scientifically known, and then explain the importance or relevance of the data to living organisms. 11. The group will collaborate on the conclusion and references sections of the paper. In the conclusion, be sure to summarize the findings of the experiments and relate back to the questions raised in the introduction of the paper. 12. Read “Writing a Scientific Paper” in the Lab Manual. There are many suggestions about titles, graphs, data interpretation, and other aspects of scientific papers. Be sure to follow instructions for proper paper format! Remember, the grade of this paper is one third group work (the introduction, methods, conclusion, and reference sections) and two thirds your individual assignment (your assigned experimental results and discussion sections. Individuals will not be penalized if a group member does not turn in their assigned section, so if a group member is really not contributing to the paper, be sure to continue without them. For the group paper, all results should be included in a single results section, and all discussions should be included in a single discussion section. An example outline of the main sections for this paper would resemble something like the following: 1. Introduction 2. Methods (for all experiments) 2.1. Temperature Properties 2.2. Cohesion 2.3. Etc. 3. Results (for all experiments – please give each assigned experiment its own subheading) 3.1. Temperature properties 3.2. Etc. 4. Discussion (for all experiments – please give each assigned experiment its own subheading) 4.1. Temperature properties 4.2. Etc. 5. Conclusion 6. References Specific Requirements • Descriptive title for your group paper. A “descriptive” title means that it clearly and succinctly summarizes what you investigated. “Water—A Remarkable Liquid” is a poor title. • The names of the members in your group Organize your paper into the sections described in the lab manual. What you must include in each section is described below. Pay specific attention to your assigned section instructions. 1. SOLVENT ABILITIES A. Solvent ability—testing 3 solvents and 4 solutes 1. In your Results: Present the data from each group in a table. Summarize the class’s data in one or two sentences. Were the data for each chemical combination a true solution or insoluble? 2. In your Discussion: Interpret and explain the class’s data by: • Explaining why the overall class data make sense chemically; for example, provide some of the known solubilities of the tested solutes. If the overall class data are not what you expected, explain what you expected and why. • Explaining the expected data biologically. Explain why cells are composed mostly of water, and why cells and living organisms probably would not function well if cells were composed mostly of other liquids. B. Kitchen Experiment—tasting sucrose 1. In your Results: Was sucrose more or less sweet when dissolved in water? 2. In your Discussion: Interpret and explain your results by: • Explaining what happens to the chemical structure of sucrose when it dissolves in water. • Explaining why sucrose that is dissolved in water should taste less sweet than sucrose alone. • Explaining why the undissolved and dissolved sucrose tasting sweet support the idea that protein receptors on your tongue respond to intact molecules of sugars. 2. TEMPERATURE PROPERTIES—measuring specific heat of water, ethanol, and corn oil 1. In your Results: Present the data from each group for maximum temperature increase in a table. Include averages of the class data for each of the three tested chemicals. Summarize the averages of the data using two or three sentences. 2. In your Discussion: Interpret and explain the class averages of the data and compare your group data to the class averages by: • Explaining why the averaged data make sense chemically; for example, provide the known specific heats for the tested chemicals. If the averaged data are not what you expected, explain what you expected and why. • Explaining the expected data biologically. Why does water’s high specific heat enable life to exist on Earth? 3. COHESIVE PROPERTIES A. Capillary Action—testing three different capillaries with water and ethanol 1. In your Results: Present the data from each group for maximum height increase in a table or a figure. Include averages of the class data for each tested chemical and capillary tube diameter. Summarize the averaged data using one or two sentences. 2. In your Discussion: Interpret and explain the class averages of the data and compare your group data to the class averages by: • Explaining why the averaged data make sense chemically using concepts of cohesion and adhesion (both of which are necessary to explain capillary action); if the data are not what you expected, explain what you expected and why. What chemical force could explain the attraction of water and ethanol molecules to glass? • Explaining the expected data biologically. Consider that the tube-like structures in trees are about the same diameter as your smallest capillary tube. Could just capillary action explain how water moves up small diameter tubes in plants about 1 cm tall? In trees 50 meters tall? Explain why or why not. B. Surface Tension—your observation of a demonstration 1. In your Results: Describe what you observed in the experiment and the presented materials. 2. In your Discussion: Explain your observations chemically by explaining why they make sense; for example, provide the known densities for solutions. If your observations were not what you expected, explain what you expected and why. How is this phenomenon beneficial to many organisms? 4. WATER & DISSOCIATION, VISCOSITY, AND DENSITY OF WATER A. Water & Dissociation: Acids and Bases—testing the different liquids for pH 1. In your Results: Present the data from your group for pH in a figure. Be sure to construct and organize the figure in a logical fashion. Summarize the data using one or two sentences. 2. In your Discussion: Interpret and explain the data by: • Briefly explain why the different liquids had different pH levels. • Explaining the expected data biologically. Why is pH so important for how cells and biology work? B. Viscosity— 1. In your Discussion: Present the answers to the questions in the lab manual for this section in several sentences. Describe what you saw or read in the presented materials. C. Density of Water—your experiment and your observation of a demonstration 1. In your Results of density experiment: Present the data from each group on the density comparison for three liquids in a table. Summarize the overall data using one or two sentences. 2. In your Discussion of density experiment: Interpret and explain the overall data chemically by explaining why the data make sense; for example, provide the known densities for the tested chemicals. If the overall data are not what you expected, explain what you expected and why. 3. In your Discussion of density of ice observation: Interpret and explain your observations by: • Explaining chemically why ice floats on liquid water. • Explaining the biological significance of ice floating. How is this phenomenon beneficial to many organisms? IV. REFERENCES (or LITERATURE CITED) List all references you used. The most important are the textbook, BIOL 400 Lab Manual, and BIOL 400 Lecture Outline. Good websites could also be useful. Include proper citations—see How to Cite Scientific Literature in “Academic Integrity for Assignments, Reports, and Careers.” Yahoo Answers, Wiki Answers, Answers.com, and other such websites are poor references since postings can be made anonymously and with no checks for accuracy. Use biology and chemistry textbook, or check with the instructor for what websites are more trustworthy. Critically evaluate references and information before using them. Just because a website is easy to read and understand does not mean that the information is accurate. (continued) http://www.michaelgaigg.com/blog/2009/03/13/go-figure-10-comic-strips-that-have-something-in-common/ General Grading Criteria for Reports and Papers Susan Scott and Fred Deneke A The report shows a superior understanding of the topic. Observational and experimental data are clearly, appropriately, and accurately presented. The report explains the data by (1) presenting factors of central significance; (2) clearly showing how these factors operate and why they are significant; (3) has structure, style, and mechanics that serve the content. B The report demonstrates an accurate grasp of the topic. Observational and experimental data are accurately presented. The report (1) presents important factors; (2) shows less detailed knowledge and less synthesis than an “A” report; (3) has structure, style, and mechanics that usually serve the content. C The report demonstrates an acceptable understanding of the topic. Observational and experimental data are less effectively, less completely, or less relevantly presented than in an “A” report. The report (1) presents and explains only the most obvious factors; (2) outlines only the most obvious implications; (3) contains excessive quotations or paraphrasing of the source material; (4) has spelling errors, grammatical errors, or paragraph structures that cause the reader minor distractions. D The report demonstrates only limited understanding or a partial misunderstanding of the topic. The report (1) may use unimportant factors, or may explain important factors or their significance with little coherence or specificity; (2) may make a number of serious factual errors; (3) may be missing substantial parts of the experiment; (4) has numerous spelling and grammatical errors which impede the reader's understanding or has such poor sentence structure that meaning is not clear. F The report demonstrates little or no grasp of the topic. The report (1) may significantly misstate facts or misinterpret them; (2) may fail completely to justify the choice of factors; (3) may be a string of generalizations without specifics or specifics without generalizations; (4) is plagiarized from other sources without acknowledgement or has limited original effort; (5) has structure, style and mechanics which cause the reader significant difficulty.