Absences:  Basically, don’t miss lab.  Attendance at your laboratory and discussion are required every week.  To receive credit for each week, you must go to both.  Attendance is also required to collect the data you will need for lab reports.  If you miss lab for a week when work is being done for a lab report, you cannot receive credit for the lab report.
     If you are going to miss lab because of an illness, religious holiday, jury duty, court date, or military service, email your teaching assistant as soon as you know.  At your TA’s discretion, it might be possible for you to attend a lab earlier in the week, or later in the week.  If you can arrange this, have the TA of the section you visit initial both your discussion sheet and lab data sheet to indicate that you did the work, and give both to your own TA the next week.  It is up to you to make sure that you receive credit for the make-up lab.  If there is an assignment due that week, turn it in to your own TA early.  Never turn an assignment in to a different TA than your own.  As soon as the week is over, the material will be taken down and you will not be able to make up the lab.

Late assignments will not be accepted.  Lab reports and problem sets are due in discussion.  If they are not turned in at the beginning of discussion, you will not receive credit.  This applies regardless of your reason for not turning it in.
     If you think you might miss lab due to an illness, religious holiday, jury duty, court date, or military service, and there is an assignment due, make arrangements with your TA to turn it in early.  In some cases, it might be possible to turn it in via an attached file, but make arrangements beforehand.   Bios 101 instructors generally delete unanticipated emails with attached files.  If your TA cannot open the file, your will not receive credit for the assignment, regardless of your TA’s reason for not being able to open the file.
     If you miss lab for a given week, and there is an assignment due, please do not bring try to turn it in next week, your TA has been specifically instructed not to grade it, even if you have an excuse for missing lab.

Grade records.  Your TA keeps your grade records for both laboratory and exams.  During the last week of lab, you will have a grade conference with your TA to verify your scores, so save your assignments.
     Exams are graded by machine.  The OptiScan machine we use at UIC is 100% reliable-it has never made an error.  Circle your responses on the test booklet of each exam.  When it is returned to you, check your responses against the posted key so you know what you got wrong.  If your own assessment differs from the grade your TA gave you, politely ask your TA to double-check the machine-generated score list.  If your own assessment of your numbers differ, there are two possibilities: either you mis-ovaled, or there are two people in the class with your name.  Mis-ovaling is a very common error, so fill in your answer sheets carefully on the exams.

Please turn off all cell phones in lab.  Please no food or drink in lab.  If you need to make a call or grab something to eat, step outside.
 
Plagiarism.  Laboratory reports must be entirely a person’s own work.  Do not copy any text or figures from anyone else, even your lab partner.  If we notice that your text or figures are a copy (or a very close match) of someone else’s, you will receive a zero for the assignment and can expect to hear from the dean.  This applies to problem sets as well as lab reports.  If you have a close friend in class, write your reports in different rooms or apartments and do not exchange email drafts….please.
     Likewise, we have seen copies of all the old reports used as "study aids", do not turn in a modified version of an old report or we will certainly contact the dean and take some pretty harsh disciplinary action.
     Any sort of cheating or misrepresentaion is unacceptable, and could lead to a person’s dismissal from UIC.

When you are done with the lab exercise, you are free to go.  Ask your TA to check your work.  If it is acceptable, he or she will initial your data sheet.  If you have some part of it wrong, he or she will ask you to finish the work before leaving.  The two points for each lab are contingent upon your TA approving your work with their initials.

The one point for each discussion is contingent on turning in the questions associated with the discussion sheet.  Use a separate sheet of paper.  Don’t forget to write your name.  It is also contingent upon showing up on time and participating in the class discussion.

     There are generally four lab reports, each of which is on a predetermined topic from the syllabus.  Their purpose is to reinforce your knowledge of the course material and broaden the scope of your understanding.  Lab reports give you an opportunity to conduct library research, and express your ideas in writing.

Write your own report from scratch. Though students work in small groups in the lab, reports are generally not group projects.  Unless otherwise specified, students cannot submit duplicate reports or reports not based on actual data from their lab section.  Do not make changes to a partner's report and submit it as your own or we will consider it cheating and act accordingly.
 All lab reports must be typed.
All lab reports must be turned in on time.   There are no "excused absences", so if you might miss class, make arrangements to turn it in early.
Please write in a clear, concise manner. Credit will be given based on the student's understanding of the material, their ability to communicate their ideas effectively, and their ability to use their laboratory data as a test of scientific hypotheses.
Please include computer-generated figures.  Teach yourself how to use Microsoft Excel or another graphing program.  It is a part of your education you will use every day.
Please include outside research and reading.  Go to the science library and find additional material on the subject.
All lab reports should include the following sections:
1. TITLE - Give a descriptive title of your experiment/laboratory. This indicates the content and purpose of the report. Give your name, section #, instructor's name, and the date submitted.
2. INTRODUCTION - The Introduction introduces the ideas to be discussed in the Discussion. It can begin with a question, quote (include complete reference: author, date source, page numbers), or claim which highlights the significance of the exercise. Follow with a description which builds on the concepts or principles made in the opening sentence/paragraph. The introduction concludes with an indication of how the present study relates to these ideas or concepts.
3. MATERIALS AND METHODS - Describe how you performed the laboratory/experiment and collected your data. Be brief but clear. Provide enough detail so that the experiment could be understood by anyone reading the report.
4. RESULTS - The Results present all of the data to be discussed in the Discussion. These data are presented in a short written summary of your findings. This is where you include tables of data, graphs of data, or diagrams (not at the end).  They must be completely, clearly, and correctly labeled.
5. DISCUSSION - The Discussion discusses the data presented in the Results in the context of the ideas introduced in the Introduction. In the Discussion you may:
A) interpret the results obtained
B) discuss the relevance of the experiment or study to the more general ideas or issues presented in the Introduction
C) compare your results to lecture material, class readings, and your own research.
D) speculate about what these results signify
E) suggest other relevant experiments
If your results disagree with what is expected include a discussion of why or why not these specific results should be accepted. Here you might also include other experiments that would resolve this disagreement with expectation.
6. REFERENCES:  Here you list the references you used in your lab report.  This list will always include the lab manual.  It should include other references from the library.  These can be books, journal articles, and websites.

Use this format as an example:
Book: Murray D, and Nyberg D, (2000) An Experience with Populations and Communities.  Stipes Publishing. Champaign, Illinois.

Article:Zaanen J, (2002)  Quantum salad dressing.  Nature, Volume 24, pages 379-380.

Tree of life webpage, Odontium beetles: http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Odontium&contgroup=Odontium_Complex

In bio 101, we are big on hypothesis testing. Almost every lab has a hypothesis to test, and by testing the data, we are either able to either support (not prove) the hypothesis, or falsify.

Go to the science library. We are big on outside research. There is so much you can learn on your own. The science library is in SES, down a hallway from the third floor rotunda. The room number is 3500 SES. Here is the URL, you can look things up on the internet from your own home: http://www.uic.edu/depts/lib/science/

The best reports are usually between five and eight pages long.
Introduce a hypothesis test in the introduction.  Explain what different results might mean in terms of accepting or rejecting your hypothesis.
The best reports usually have several tables and/or figures, each of which is clearly labeled. A good set of figures tells a story and demonstrates the significance of your data.
To write a good report, you need to know the material well. This includes everything in the lab manual, the textbook reading, and outside reading from other sources.  Look up articles from scientific journals and magazines.  Also, se books in the library and websites.  Cite these sources in your discussion section or your introduction. Are your data relevant to what other people are doing in science?
The best reports usually include a hypothesis test.   Think about what it is you are testing by the lab experiment, and write the report around the hypothesis test.
Introduce the problem in your discussion as a puzzle or controversy.
Examples: How will dumping cat food into a five gallon tank affect the flora and fauna? Will it be too much of a good thing, or will the organisms simply eat the excess nutrients and prosper?
What exactly is the explanation for the phenotypes of the different lines of fruit flies. Of the different genetic hypotheses, which one is the most plausible? or is it some unexplained response to the environment?
Keep your methods section brief, but not so brief as to leave out important facts. A person who reads the lab report should be able to do the experiment again. It is a good idea to cite the lab manual.
Present your data, but do not discuss it, in your results section.  Lay it out for the reader, your data, your statistical tests on the data, charts and figures of what went on, and a written description of your data and results.  Do not tell the reader what you think your results mean at this point.
In your discussion section, tell your reader what you think your results mean.  If you are comparing multiple hypotheses, discuss how your data either support or reject each hypothesis.
Don't do your lab report the night before. It takes some re-writing to get a good report.
Do not try and print your report at the last minute. I can guarantee you there will be some stupid reason the printer will fail to work at the last possible minute.
Keep a photocopy of your report or keep it on disk in case it gets lost, or in case we loose it.