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Week 5 – Final Lab Report
Final Lab ReportYou are required to write a complete laboratory report that covers the drinking water quality experiment from “
Lab 2: Water Quality and Contamination
,” using knowledge gained throughout the course. Use the instructor feedback on your Rough Draft from Week Three to guide your writing. Be sure to download the
Final Lab Report Template
and utilize this form (not the Rough Draft template) to ensure proper formatting and inclusion of all required material. Additionally, view the
Sample Final Lab Report
before beginning this assignment, which will illustrate what a Final Lab Report should look like. You must use at least two scholarly sources, two other highly credible sources, and your lab manual to support your points. The report must be six to ten pages in length (excluding the title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style. For information regarding APA samples and tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center, located within the Learning Resources tab on the left navigation toolbar, in your online course.The Final Lab Report must contain the following eight sections in this order:Title Page – This page must include the title of your report, your name, course name, instructor, and date submitted.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).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.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.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. 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?Conclusions – This section should provide a brief summary of your work.References – List references used in APA format as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.In this class, you have three tutoring services available: Paper Review, Live Chat, and
Tutor E-mail
. Click on the Writing Center (AWC) tab in the left-navigation menu, in your online course, to learn more about these tutoring options and how to get help with your writing.
Runninghead: TITLE 1
Title
4
Title
Name
SCI 207: Our Dependence Upon the Environment
Instructor
Date
*This template will provide you with the details necessary to finalize a quality Final Lab Report. Utilize this template to complete the Week 5 Final Lab Report and ensure that you are providing all of the necessary information and proper format for the assignment. Before you begin, please note the following important information:
1. Carefully review the Final Lab Report instructions before you begin this assignment.
2. The Final Lab Report should cover the Drinking Water Quality Experiment from your Week Two Lab.
3. Review instructor feedback from the Week Three outline of the Final Lab Report and make changes as necessary.
4. Review the Sample Final Lab Report for an example of a final product on a different topic. Your format should look like this sample report before submission.
5. Make sure your final report is in proper APA format. Use the Sample Final Lab Report as a guide, or obtain an APA Template from the Writing Center.
6. Run your Final Lab Report through Turnitin using the student folder to ensure protection from accidental plagiarism
Title
Abstract
The abstract should provide a brief summary of the methods, results, and conclusions. It should very briefly 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).
Introduction
The introduction should describe the background of water quality and related issues using cited examples. You should include scholarly sources in this section to help explain why water quality research is important to society. When writing this section, make sure to cite all resources in APA format.
The introduction should also contain the objective for your study. This objective is the reason why the experiment is being done. Your final report should provide an objective that describes why we want to know the answer to the questions we are asking.
Finally, the introduction should end with your hypothesis. This hypothesis should be the same one posed before you began your experiment. You may reword it following feedback from your instructor to illustrate a proper hypothesis, however, you should not adjust it to reflect the “right” answer. You do not lose points for an inaccurate hypothesis; scientists often revise their hypotheses based on scientific evidence following an experiment. Include an explanation as to why you made the hypothesis that you did.
Materials and Methods
The materials and methods section should provide a brief description of the specialized materials used in your experiment and how they were used. This section needs to summarize the instructions with enough detail so that an outsider who does not have a copy of the lab instructions knows what you did. However, this does not mean writing every little step like “dip the chloride test strip in the water, then shake the test strip,” these steps can be simplified to read “we used chloride test strips to measure the chloride levels of each sample in mg/L”, etc. Additionally, this section should be written in the past tense and in your own words and not copied and pasted from the lab manual.
Results
The results section should include all tables used in your experiments. All values within the tables or graphs should be in numerical form and contain units. For instance, if measuring the amount of chloride in water you should report as 2 mg/L or 0 mg/L, not as two or none.
The results section should also highlight the important results in paragraph form, referring to the appropriate tables when mentioned. This section should only state the results as no personal opinions should be included. A description of what the results really mean should be saved for the discussion. For example, you may report, 0mg/L of chlorine were found in the water, but should avoid personal opinions and interpretations of the data (e.g., “No chlorine was found in the water showing it is cleaner than the others samples”).
Discussion
The discussion section should interpret your data and provide conclusions. Start by discussing whether you accepted or rejected your hypothesis and how you arrived at this decision. In the same section, consider some of the implications of your results. Given the chemical differences you may have noted between the water samples, are any of the differences causes for concern? Why or why not?
The discussion should also relate your results to the bigger water concerns and challenges. For example, based on your experiments you might discuss how various bottled water companies use different filtration systems. Or, you could discuss the billion dollar bottled water industry. For example, do you think it is worth it to buy bottled water? Why or why not? Your final lab report should utilize credible and scholarly resources to put your results into context.
Finally, the results section should also address any possible factors that may have affected your results, such as possible contamination in the experiments or any outside factors (e.g., temperature, contaminants, time of day). If so, how could you control for these in the future? You should also propose some new questions that have arisen from your results and what kind of experiment might be proposed to answer these questions.
Conclusions
The conclusion section should briefly summarize the key findings of your experiment. What main message would you like people to have from this report?
References
Include at least two scholarly references, two credible references, and your lab manual in APA format.
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.
Thank you for putting in the hard work of producing this week 3 final paper rough draft.
Overall, you made some great points in your final paper rough draft and you had some good content in some sections.
Please see the Waypoint feedback for specific comments on what needs to be added in each section.
Make sure that for the final paper you use and cite more credible and scholarly sources in your introduction and discussion sections.
For the final version I would also recommend doing some editing and adding to the introduction, results, discussion, and conclusion sections of your paper.
Make sure you meet the resource requirement of 2 scholarly sources (the textbook does not count), 2 credible sources, plus the lab manual.
Please see this video to learn more about finding and using appropriate sources:
I am confident that if you put in the required work that you will be able to craft a truly excellent paper. Please make sure to double and triple check your paper against the grading rubric to avoid missing points for required content in the final paper.
Don’t forget to include a thorough abstract for the final paper!
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email me.
~Marc
( 0.19 / 0.25) Title Page
Basic – Provides a title page that is missing two required components.
Comments:
Comments:
Comments:
Comments:
Good use of a title page, but there are a few components missing. Before you begin your Final Lab Report make sure to click on the template linked to the instructions as it will illustrate all of the proper components necessary for the paper.
( 0.95 / 1.25) Introduction
Basic – Includes an introduction that discusses the background into the topic supported by scholarly sources, an objective of the study, and a hypothesis for the experiment along with an explanation of how the student arrived at that hypothesis. Moderate improvement is needed through additional detail, improvement of source material, and/or rewording of hypotheses.
Comments:
Good attempt here, but you do need to do a better job providing background that sets up the rest of the paper. This section should provide an introduction to why the study is being done with multiple scholarly sources to illustrate previous studies done in the area. Before you begin your Final Lab Report, I would suggest that you read the instructions carefully and utilize the template attached to the instructions to help you understand what should be present in each section of the introduction.
( 1.00 / 1.25) Materials and Methods
Proficient – Describes the materials and methods providing enough detail to repeat the experiment. Minor details are missing, or extraneous information is present.
Comments:
Overall this is a good start concerning the materials and methods section. There were some parts that I was not familiar with like the pH probe which is not part of the week 2 experiment. Also, make sure you mention all of the materials used in your experiment at the beginning of the section. These should still be in paragraph form and not simply listed. Make sure that these are included in the Final Lab Report.
( 0.75 / 1.25) Results
Below Expectations – Includes a results section that attempts to address the tables utilized in the laboratory as well as explain the data; however, significant errors are included in the data tables, details are missing in the data explanation, and personal opinions are stated.
Comments:
For the Final Lab Report make sure that you include all of the data tables that you generated during the Week Two lab in with the report. The best way to do this is to simply copy and paste all of the completed tables from the Week Two lab into your Final Lab Report. If you do this, it will ensure that all the data is present.
( 0.50 / 1.25) Discussion
Below Expectations – Includes a discussion section; however, does not explain one or more of the required components. Many improvements are needed through additional detail, inclusion of source material, and correction of significant errors.
Comments:
For the Final Lab Report, make sure that you begin by addressing whether or not the hypothesis that you presented in the introduction was confirmed or rejected and detailing how you know this. This is one of the most important parts of the report as it illustrates what you actually found and needs to have considerable discussion surrounding how you decided to accept or reject your hypothesis.
In your Final Lab Report you should discuss the consequences and real world context of your results by utilizing some scholarly and credible sources to help drive these points home.
Again, make sure that the sources are scholarly, not popular. Scholarly sources can be located in the Ashford Library or by using the Google Scholar search engine.
You needed more content to address any outside factors or confounding variables that may have affected your results. For instance, perhaps water temperature plays a large role in contamination levels and was not accounted for in the experimental design. There are always at least a few potentially confounding variables, so in the Final Lab Report, make sure to address some that may have skewed results.
Make sure in your Final Lab Report that you also address some future experiments that may have arisen from your results. Results of scientific experiments always bring up new questions. What might some of these questions be and how might you do another experiment to address these questions?
( 0.50 / 0.75) Conclusion
Below Expectations – Includes a conclusion section that summarizes all facets of your experiment. Significant improvement is needed to accurately summarize the report.
Comments:
Good attempt here, but a few changes will need to be made on your Final Lab Report. This is one of the most often confused sections as people think it should just be a general closing sentence or two. While this should close out the report it should do so by summarizing your entire report. You should very briefly (still only a paragraph) sum up the objective, experiment conducted, the results, and what these mean to any future work or society.
( 0.00 / 1.00) Submits Grammarly Report
Non-Performance – A screen shot of the Grammarly report is nonexistent.
( 0.38 / 0.50) Written Communication: Control of Syntax and Mechanics
Basic – Displays basic comprehension of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains a few errors, which may slightly distract the reader.
Comments:
The paper contains a few mechanical errors that makes it difficult for the reader to understand the writer’s intent and analysis.
The Ashford Writing Center offers resources to assist in developing writing skills. Grammarly is also a helpful, free service offered through Ashford.
( 0.44 / 0.50) APA Formatting
Proficient – Exhibits APA formatting throughout the paper. However, layout contains a few minor errors.
( 0.38 / 0.50) Page Requirement
Basic – The length of the paper is equivalent to at least three quarters of the required number of correctly formatted pages.
( 0.90 / 1.50) Resource Requirement
Below Expectations – Uses inadequate number of sources that provide little or no support for ideas. Sources used may not be scholarly. Most sources on the reference page are not used within the body of the assignment. Citations are not formatted correctly.
Lab 2 – Water Quality and Contamination
Experiment 1: Drinking Water Quality
Bottled water is a billion dollar industry in the United States. Still, few people know the health benefits, if any, that come from drinking bottled water as opposed to tap water. This experiment will look at the levels of a variety of different chemical compounds in both tap and bottled water to determine if there are health benefits in drinking bottled water.
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.
The water source I believe that will contain the most contaminants is Tap water due to the amount of chemical exposed in the water from pipes and other ground items . Fiji bottle water would be second and Dasani water being least contaminated .
Table 1: Ammonia Test Results
Water Sample
Test Results (mg/L)
Tap Water
0mg/L
Dasani® Bottled Water
0mg/L
Fiji® Bottled Water
0mg/L
Table 2: Chloride Test Results
Water Sample
Test Results (mg/L)
Tap Water
0mg/L
Dasani® Bottled Water
500mg/L
Fiji® Bottled Water
500mg/L
Table 3: 4 in 1 Test Results
Water Sample
Total Alkalinity
(mg/L)
Total Chlorine
(mg/L)
Total Hardness
(mg/L)
Tap Water
40mg/L
0mg/L
0mg/L
Dasani® Bottled Water
40 mg/L
0.2mg/L
50mg/L
Fiji® Bottled Water
0mg/L
0.2mg/L
0mg /L
Table 4: Phosphate Test Results
Water Sample
Test Results (ppm)
Tap Water
50 ppm
Dasani® Bottled Water
10 ppm
Fiji® Bottled Water
100 ppm
Table 5: Iron Test Results
Water Sample
Test Results (ppm)
Tap Water
0.15 ppm
Dasani® Bottled Water
0.15 ppm
Fiji® Bottled Water
0 ppm
Table 6: pH Results
Water Sample
Test Results
Tap Water
6 pH
Dasani® Bottled Water
5pH
Fiji® Bottled Water
7pH
2. Based on the results of your experiment, would accept or reject the hypothesis you produced in question 1? Explain how you determined this.
Accept/reject = After during the experiment I would reject my hypothesis I determine this because Dasani bottle water tested higher more likely contain contaminates. I was surprised because , I thought that pipes and sewers would more likely contaminate tap water than bottle water.
3. Based on the results of your experiment, what specific differences do you notice among the Dasani®, Fiji®, and Tap Water?
Answer = I notice that the tap water did not have any chlorine which poses a risk of being contaminated and making people sick. I noticed that the Fiji bottle water had 0mg/L of Alkalinity which poses a threat of being unsafe to drink. Based on the overall test results all three of the waters are safe to drink because the total hardness in each water source or type is between 0-50mg/L. Which meets the standards of safe drinking 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.
Answer = Based on these samples tap water and Dasani concern because it’s PH levels are 5 and 6 . Fiji bottle water is safer to drink because the PH levels is 7 which is more safer than tap and Dasani .For the overall test results each water is Fiji bottle water have less contaminate than tap water and Dasani bottle of water .
5. Based on your results, do you believe that bottled water is worth the price? Use evidence from the lab to support your opinion.
Answer = Based on the test results , I don’t believe that bottle of water is worth the price .I learned a lot about bottle of water and tap water and believe that bottle of water had more contaminates than I originally expected. Tap water is not as bad as I thought though I will be drinking more tap water in the future.
**NOTE: Be sure to complete steps 1 – 32 of Lab 3, Experiment 1 (the next lab) before the end of this week. Lab 3 involves planting seeds, and if the work is not started this week, your plants will not have time to grow and the lab will not be finished on time.**
FACT SHEETS: Please refer to these to answer Question 3. If you use information from any of these, don’t forget to cite and reference it in APA format in your lab. You are also welcome to use additional or alternative credible resources that you locate online if you wish.
Ammonia
https://www.wqa.org/Portals/0/Technical/Technical%20Fact%20Sheets/2014_Ammonia
Chloride
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chloride
Phosphate
http://osse.ssec.wisc.edu/curriculum/earth/Minifact2_Phosphorus
Iron
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/iron
pH
https://www.watersystemscouncil.org/download/wellcare_information_sheets/potential_groundwater_contaminant_information_sheets/9709284pH_Update_September_2007
Alkalinity
http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water_quality/quality1/28-08-alkalinity.htm
Chlorine
http://www.watertechonline.com/testing-for-chlorine-in-drinking-water/
Hardness
http://des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/dwgb/documents/dwgb-3-6
References
http://osse.ssec.wisc.edu/curriculum/earth/Minifact2_Phosphorus
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/iron
https://www.watersystemscouncil.org/download/wellcare_information_sheets/potential_groundwater_contaminant_information_sheets/9709284pH_Update_September_2007
http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water_quality/quality1/28-08-alkalinity.htm
http://des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/dwgb/documents/dwgb-3-6
© eScience Labs, 2016
Lab 2 – Water Quality and Contamination
Experiment 1: Drinking Water Quality
Bottled water is a billion dollar industry in the United States. Still, few people know the health benefits, if any, that come from drinking bottled water as opposed to tap water. This experiment will look at the levels of a variety of different chemical compounds in both tap and bottled water to determine if there are health benefits in drinking bottled water.
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.
The water source I believe that will contain the most contaminants is Tap water due to the amount of chemical exposed in the water from pipes and other ground items . Fiji bottle water would be second and Dasani water being least contaminated .
Table 1: Ammonia Test Results
Water Sample
Test Results (mg/L)
Tap Water
0mg/L
Dasani® Bottled Water
0mg/L
Fiji® Bottled Water
0mg/L
Table 2: Chloride Test Results
Water Sample
Test Results (mg/L)
Tap Water
0mg/L
Dasani® Bottled Water
500mg/L
Fiji® Bottled Water
500mg/L
Table 3: 4 in 1 Test Results
Water Sample
Total Alkalinity
(mg/L)
Total Chlorine
(mg/L)
Total Hardness
(mg/L)
Tap Water
40mg/L
0mg/L
0mg/L
Dasani® Bottled Water
40 mg/L
0.2mg/L
50mg/L
Fiji® Bottled Water
0mg/L
0.2mg/L
0mg /L
Table 4: Phosphate Test Results
Water Sample
Test Results (ppm)
Tap Water
50 ppm
Dasani® Bottled Water
10 ppm
Fiji® Bottled Water
100 ppm
Table 5: Iron Test Results
Water Sample
Test Results (ppm)
Tap Water
0.15 ppm
Dasani® Bottled Water
0.15 ppm
Fiji® Bottled Water
0 ppm
Table 6: pH Results
Water Sample
Test Results
Tap Water
6 pH
Dasani® Bottled Water
5pH
Fiji® Bottled Water
7pH
2. Based on the results of your experiment, would accept or reject the hypothesis you produced in question 1? Explain how you determined this.
Accept/reject = After during the experiment I would reject my hypothesis I determine this because Dasani bottle water tested higher more likely contain contaminates. I was surprised because , I thought that pipes and sewers would more likely contaminate tap water than bottle water.
3. Based on the results of your experiment, what specific differences do you notice among the Dasani®, Fiji®, and Tap Water?
Answer = I notice that the tap water did not have any chlorine which poses a risk of being contaminated and making people sick. I noticed that the Fiji bottle water had 0mg/L of Alkalinity which poses a threat of being unsafe to drink. Based on the overall test results all three of the waters are safe to drink because the total hardness in each water source or type is between 0-50mg/L. Which meets the standards of safe drinking 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.
Answer = Based on these samples tap water and Dasani concern because it’s PH levels are 5 and 6 . Fiji bottle water is safer to drink because the PH levels is 7 which is more safer than tap and Dasani .For the overall test results each water is Fiji bottle water have less contaminate than tap water and Dasani bottle of water .
5. Based on your results, do you believe that bottled water is worth the price? Use evidence from the lab to support your opinion.
Answer = Based on the test results , I don’t believe that bottle of water is worth the price .I learned a lot about bottle of water and tap water and believe that bottle of water had more contaminates than I originally expected. Tap water is not as bad as I thought though I will be drinking more tap water in the future.
**NOTE: Be sure to complete steps 1 – 32 of Lab 3, Experiment 1 (the next lab) before the end of this week. Lab 3 involves planting seeds, and if the work is not started this week, your plants will not have time to grow and the lab will not be finished on time.**
FACT SHEETS: Please refer to these to answer Question 3. If you use information from any of these, don’t forget to cite and reference it in APA format in your lab. You are also welcome to use additional or alternative credible resources that you locate online if you wish.
Ammonia
https://www.wqa.org/Portals/0/Technical/Technical%20Fact%20Sheets/2014_Ammonia
Chloride
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chloride
Phosphate
http://osse.ssec.wisc.edu/curriculum/earth/Minifact2_Phosphorus
Iron
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/iron
pH
https://www.watersystemscouncil.org/download/wellcare_information_sheets/potential_groundwater_contaminant_information_sheets/9709284pH_Update_September_2007
Alkalinity
http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water_quality/quality1/28-08-alkalinity.htm
Chlorine
http://www.watertechonline.com/testing-for-chlorine-in-drinking-water/
Hardness
http://des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/dwgb/documents/dwgb-3-6
References
http://osse.ssec.wisc.edu/curriculum/earth/Minifact2_Phosphorus
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/chemicals/iron
https://www.watersystemscouncil.org/download/wellcare_information_sheets/potential_groundwater_contaminant_information_sheets/9709284pH_Update_September_2007
http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water_quality/quality1/28-08-alkalinity.htm
http://des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/dwgb/documents/dwgb-3-6
© eScience Labs, 2016
