Anatomy of a Science Write-up

Modified from Professor Prothero's Page

Writing the paper

The format shown here is common in science writing and will help you present your thoughts in an organized and clear way.

The formal laboratory write-up outline was agreed upon by all of the science staff at AHS.  The skills you learn writing in one class will be used in your next science class. The exact requirements may vary slightly by teacher.

References

All data, text, and figures that you get from other sources must be referenced.  When in doubt check the Please Do Not Cheat Yourself page of the website.  MLA (Modern Language Association is the format used at Amsterdam High School).  Follow this link to the Purdue University Online Writing Lab for MLA conventions and for writing help in general.

General writing tips:

1) The paper should be organized carefully.  Follow the structure discussed below. 

2) Some sections of your paper will be composed of paragraphs.  Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence which states the point you will make in that paragraph. Every sentence after that should support the topic sentence.  Paragraphs are typically four to eight sentences long and each sentence should address only one point.

3) Make your sentences simple but vary their lengths to make the paper interesting.

4) Avoid the passive tense.  It is boring.  An example of the passive tense is: "It was shown that......."  An example of the active tense is:  "Data shows that ........."

5) Avoid contractions.  These are for more informal writing.  Science papers are for a formal audience.  An example is "can not" instead of "can't."

6) Be careful with “Replace All” on your word processor.  You may replace words that you don't intend to replace. 

Visual Presentation: 

Your printouts will have a consistent format. Your paper should be thoroughly proofread.  Use spell check and make a visual scan.

You can upload figures from any source, draw your own using the graphics drawing tool, or hand draw them in.  Do not scan in figures from any book without written permission from the publisher. Your work must reflect your own thinking and a book may provide beautiful images but a crude sketch that shows that you understand the material is preferable to excessive professionally created images.

Headings

Technical writing follows a specific format.  This format varies depending on the subject and teacher.  However, there are common features to all formats.  The format described here is the basis for your writing assignments my science classes.

Each writing assignment may have different headings, but the standard headings are listed below:

·      Cover Page (Not a heading but an actual page)

·      Introduction

·      Safety Precautions

·      Materials

·      Procedure

·      Data/Observations

·      Analysis

·      Formal Lab Questions

·      Discussion/Conclusion

·      Using Figures

 

Cover Page

The following items should be included on the cover page of the laboratory report:

Lab Title - Student Name - School Name - Date the lab was performed - Date the lab is due - Date the lab was submitted - Names of lab partners

Looks like this:

Mrs. Fredericksen

Amsterdam High School

Lab performed on July 4, 2007

Lab due on July 4, 2007

Lab submitted on July 4, 2007

Lab partners:  Mrs. Giles and Mr. Benton

Introduction Heading

A very important part of a science paper is the introduction.  It is in this section that the reader decides whether or not you have something pertinent, or important to them, to say.  The introduction should orient the reader to the following: Why are you writing this essay? What are you going to discuss? Why should the reader be interested in this topic? What is the scope of the study and what ideas do you want to explain?  Although there are many approaches to writing an introduction, a good rule is to make sure the reader could read it alone and come away with a basic understanding of your work.  Even worse, a weak introduction may cause a negative first impression that is difficult to change later in your text.

Here are some examples of weak and strong sentences that might appear in an introduction:

 Strong statements:

I will discuss the general shape of the sea floor and discuss how the motion of the plates affects that shape.  I will show how the topography is related to the distribution of volcanoes and earthquakes and how these data can be used to determine the kind of boundary between the various plates.

 Weak statements:

Throughout my essay I will discuss many various topics that are all interrelated to plate tectonics.

 Introduction checklist

The Introduction should cover:

___ What is the topic of investigation in your paper?

___ How does your work fit into and advance the existing knowledge?  Some background may be needed in order to do this.  This is also where you try to convince the reader that your work is worthwhile and interesting. Don't just say it's interesting and important.  Say what is interesting and why.

Safety Precautions Heading

This section is where you discuss the safety precautions you needed to gather the data for the lab.  Never write that you used no safety precautions.  At the minimum you will state that you used normal lab safety precautions.

Materials Heading

This section contains a vertical list of material used in the lab.  It is not necessary to list materials like pen and paper.  For example:

thermometer

graduated cylinder

stopwatch

ring stand

ring clamp

Procedure Heading

This section is where you discuss how and where you got the data.  Maybe you made your own measurements, for example, if you went to the sea and measured depth profiles, or possibly you measured earthquakes with seismic equipment.  For this course, you may also be accessing data from existing databases.  You should describe those databases and explain any of the inherent limitations of the data.  This section should be numbered in order.  A reader should be able to start at number one and replicate (reproduce) your work.

Here are some examples of statements that might appear in a procedure section:

Strong statements:

Data used for this study is based on sea surface temperature data acquired by the Nimbus satellite.  The data are available from NASA at http://www.nasa.gov/data/nimbus/SST/ and are accurate to about 0.5 C. The temperature data are available on a 5km grid spacing at 1 week intervals.

 Weak statements:

I researched Sweden and the Eurasian Plate mainly through the use of the internet and maps. The only setback about the information was that I was not sure how accurate it was.

Above all, your written procedure should "make sense" to the reader, and your design should test only ONE variable at a time.

 Procedure checklist

The Procedure section should contain:

___ A description of how the data were collected

___ A discussion of the source

___ A discussion of what you did with the data, once it was found

___ References to data sources

___Describe the procedure with enough detail that someone else could repeat your work exactly

___Your procedure should be clear, to the point, listed in the order in which it was completed, and numbered.

Data/Observations Heading

Your observations or "data" are described in this section.  It is not appropriate to talk about conclusions or reasoning here.  Just stick to what you observed.  Think carefully about how best to present the data.  Would it be best in a table? written observations? diagrams? or some other form?

Data must be written in a clear and understandable format to the reader.

Data should be neat, well organized, titled, labeled, properly numbered, and appropriate units should be used.

Raw data (the actual measurements/observations you collected) should be labeled and attached at the end of the lab write-up.

 Qualitative Observations:

Qualitative observations are not really specific, often relating to some arbitrary and unspecified reference.  For example: "the waves are big," or "that hill was quite steep."  To an experienced big wave rider, the waves may be quite small, but to a non-surfer, they may seem quite large.  Steepness of a hill on a hike is also very subjective.  A person who hikes a lot may find a hill much less steep than a couch potato.  Qualitative observations are not very useful in technical writing, unless you are specifically discussing your reaction to an observation (which is rarely done).

 Quantitative Observations:

Quantitative means you are actually observing Quantities.  For example: "the waves are between 10 and 12 feet high," or "the hill rises at a 45 degree angle," or "the hill rises at a 50% grade."  Quantitative observations are what you want to use in your science writing. 

 Clarity of Observations:

The discussion on "Using Figures" should be read carefully.  You should be sure to first tell the reader where you made your observations.  The location could be marked on a map.  When maps are of a very local area, an inset showing a larger area that is more familiar to the intended reader should be provided. 

 You observations should include statements that:

• Describe the data you are presenting (including figures). Note that figure captions should point out the most important features in a figure. Use the figures you need but be economical with figures. See the discussion on figures.
• Name features that are evident in the data
• Describe relationships between observations

 Examples of observations:

Strong observations:

Many volcanic mountain ranges (chains) such as the Andes, the Aleutians, and the Japanese Islands run parallel to deep, long oceanic trenches.

The Japan-Kuril trench is ____  km long and ranges in depth from ____ to more than 9000 m.

The East Pacific Rise begins at about 56oS 118oW and ends near the end of the Gulf of California.  It has a typical elevation of -2800m, significantly higher than the surrounding seafloor which is typically 4000m or more beneath the sea surface.

 Weak observations:

Volcanoes are next to trenches.

The trench near Japan is deep and long.

 Observations checklist:

The observations section should contain:

___ A description of each observation

___ Screen printouts illustrating your data

___ A reference to each figure in the paper.  Don't assume that the reader knows why you put in a particular figure.  Explain, in the text, what the figure shows.

___ Quantitative observations, whenever possible

___ Figures must be in the order they are referred to in the text.  Refer to Figure 1, then 2, etc.

___ Make sub-headings, if appropriate, for observations in different areas.  For example, you might have, for area sub-headings: South America, Tonga-Fiji Region, Global Observations, etc.

___ Use more than one profile to characterize a linear feature.  There may be interesting variations along the feature that will add substance to your paper.

Analysis Heading

Here is where you relate your theory or model to the observations and analyze the data. You may wish to use diagrams, charts, graphs, calculations, and a written analysis of you data.

Each analysis must be backed up by one or more observation(s).  Simple sketches or cartoons could be used at this point.

Honesty:

It is very important to refrain from over-interpreting your data, or exaggerating its accuracy.  It is also important to include all of your data, rather than only select data which agree with your preconceived ideas.  Sometimes we observe data that do not fit with our expected conclusions.  It is very tempting to just forget about it or blame it on a malfunctioning measuring instrument.  Discarding good observations is a way to miss a very important discovery that might just disagree with preconceived ideas.

Science has a very high "trust factor." This is because the ethics of science are based on honesty and openness of reporting.  Experiments must be repeatable by others, and important experiments are always checked or repeated.  Journal articles are critically reviewed by other scientists who are experts in the field.  Of course, there may be great debates about the meaning of the observations.  These debates are part of the scientific process.  Scientific honesty means that the person making the observations is scrupulous in reporting "just the facts."  The facts are not only the observations, but also the accuracy of the observations.

 Your analysis section should include statements that:

• Emphasize relationships between observations (e.g. volcanoes and trenches)
• Describe your model (a sketch, not a figure from a book or web page)
• Show correspondence between your model and the observations
• Discuss areas where the observations do not support the model. This could occur from genuine conflicts between observations and model, or simply because there are no data that can tell you about it.

 Example, Observation and following Analysis:

The Observation: The topography shows a trench-like feature (Figure 3) which plunges to a depth of 8,000 meters from a depth in the West of 3,000 meters.  This trench extends along the full Western margin of South America, for about XXXXX km.  The Andes Mountain Range lies to the West, along the western boundary of South America.  The Analysis: The many active volcanoes in this mountain range suggest that it was built by volcanic activity (Figure 4).  Several cross-sections of earthquakes (Figure 5) show a descending pattern characteristic of subduction zones.   Figure 6 shows a sketch of my model for this structure, which is a classic subduction zone.   Note that the analysis is backed by observations.

 Analysis checklist:

The Analysis section should contain the following:

___ Analysis of each of the observations that you present in the Observations section

___ How your analysis relates to those of others (e.g. your textbook)

___ References (see “References” discussion) to any material discussed from other sources

___ A sketch (model) or graph analysis of the observations

___ A discussion of the sketch (model) or graph analysis and how your observations support it

Formal Lab Questions Heading

This is the section where you respond to the questions you have been given.  You need to number or label the questions as per the assignment.  You do not have to rewrite the question as long as your response clearly refers to the original question.  This is formal writing so pay attention to your tone and make sure your response is a complete sentence.

Conclusions Heading

Here you summarize your findings while carefully explaining your logic or reasoning.  This is also the section where you discuss sources of error.  There are always sources of error. 

Conflicts in the data/Sources of Error:

There are no perfect experiments.   Your equipment might not perform as you expected.  Your procedure may contain a basic flaw that you did not recognize until the end.  Do not use human error in your write-up. 

Example of acceptable error:   The litmus paper was old.  The collection tube leaked. 

Example of unacceptable error:  I could not read the thermometer.  I forgot to check the time.

Data rarely agree perfectly with your interpretation.  Data also have errors, which could allow for multiple interpretations. At the very least, data errors will ALWAYS result in some uncertainty in the resulting interpretation.  It is important to be forthright about where the data disagree. 

The busy reader who is not a specialist may skip or skim the Methods and Observations section of a technical paper, focusing on the Introduction, Figures, Figure Captions, and Conclusions.  So, leave out everything but "the Beef."  Don't worry so much about paragraph structure in the conclusions because you are supposed to summarize many results together.

 Examples of phrases that might be used in Conclusions follow:

 Strong statement:

The western boundary of the South American continent is a convergent plate boundary.  This conclusion is supported by topography, volcanoes, and earthquake hypocenter locations.

 Weak statement:

This study shows that the western boundary of South America has a trench, volcanoes, and lots of earthquakes. 

 I really learned a lot from writing this paper.

 Conclusions checklist:

The conclusions section of your paper should contain:

___ A summary of each of your main conclusions

___ Sources of error

___ Any speculation about interpretations that you would like to make, but are not fully supported by the data.

___ A discussion of what further research on the topic might be needed, and the significance of its possible outcome

Using figures to illustrate your paper:

Writing in science can be greatly improved with graphics.  Science writing can get complicated and extremely difficult to understand.  Any time you can illustrate a point with a picture or sketch, the clarity of the presentation is enhanced.  Most people are not really very good at visualizing straight from the written words. 

 The busy reader may only look at your figures and read the captions.  This underscores the importance of good captions.  Figure captions should briefly describe what the figure shows. 

When writing a technical paper related to the Earth, it is important to show the reader where the study took place.  Where is the study location on the Earth? 

Figures checklist:

___ Each figure shown has a numbered caption, which describes the figure.

___ Each figure is mentioned and explained in the text.

___ Figures are numbered according to the order in which they are mentioned in the text.

___ Figures are clear and easy to read.  If the data do not show up clearly on the figure, mark on it with colored pen.

___ There are no figures that are photocopied/scanned from the text, or any other source.

Final checklist:

__ Cover Page.

__ All specified headings included (see “Format of Paper”).

__ The paper may include any number of figures and drawings.  Small figures should be included in the text (drawing them on the computer is optional).  Full page figures can be inserted at the closest spot where they are referred to.

__ Do not include any figures photocopied/scanned from the textbook.

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