Biology 354 Cell Physiology

Lab Guidelines
Lab Safety:
Students must arrive to lab wearing appropriate PPE (personal protective equipment)
-this includes:
-fully enclosed-toed shoes
-pants (no shorts or skirts)
-full length lab coats
-safety glasses/goggles
-long hair tied back
-failure to attend lab with the appropriate PPE may result in students being
denied entry into the lab
-all appeals for missed labs must be made in writing to the course instructor
Missed Labs:
-any issues regarding lab report grades should be addressed in writing in a timely
manner (usually within 1 week of return from the teaching assistant)
-failure to address concerns in a timely manner may result in denial of your appeal
Post-Lab Reports:
-Students must hand in their assignments at the time designated in the syllabus in
the format (hard copy, electronic submission, etc) as designated by their TA.
-lab reports not handed in by the scheduled time and due date will be considered
late and will have 10% deducted per day, including the day it was late
- reports that are 5 days late are given a zero grade.
-all assignments must have a complete title page
-this title page must contain:
-lab name and section number
-instructor name
-TA name
-student name
-student number
-partner name(s)
-date of the lab
-see the template at the end of this document for reference for lab report cover pages

-students will work in groups to collect their data during experiments in lab but
students must complete their pre lab and post lab write-ups and assignments
individually
-submission of any writing or graphs that are the same as a partner or any other class
member will be considered plagiarism and will merit a grade of zero for all parties
involved (refer to the Biol 354 Syllabus for policies governing academic integrity)
Graphs/Tables:
-All graphs and tables should include proper figure/table captions. Figure captions
should always be positioned directly below the figure, whereas Table captions
should be positioned above the table.
-Figure/Table captions should include:
-brief description of the type of data in the figure/table with a short explanation of
how the data was collected
-describe the units the variables are measured in (with correct SI symbols)
-Describe any statistical analysis you used and the result: (ie t-test, p<0.05), as well
as the program and version number of the statistical program that yielded that result
(ie Microsoft Excel 2011 for Mac OSX).
-Include a legend (where appropriate) to identify multiple data series on a graph and
position the legend on the right hand side of the figure.
-Make sure all your graphs have correctly labeled axes, these axes must include the
correct units.
-Do not mix up which is your independent and your dependent variable, your
independent variable (the variable you are manipulating) should always be located on
the X-axis and the dependent variable (the variable changing in response) should be
located on the Y-axis.
-Do not include raw data; present only your finished figures and tables. For these
finished figures and tables you should (whenever possible) present averages with a
measure of variance (ie standard error (SE) or standard deviation (SD)). Make sure
any tables and figures you use correctly display averages and variation for your data.
-Do not include tables and figures of the same data (pick the one you think is most
appropriate based on your data)
Statistics:
You should wherever possible include statistical analysis in your figures and written
description of your figures. Statistical analyses are a way to support your claim that a
result is significantly different or not. You should use never use the word significant

in scientific writing unless you follow it with the information from the appropriate test
that showed that the data was significantly different (ie via a t-test).
-Include any results from your statistical analyses on your graph where appropriate (ie
a trend line from a linear regression test).
Students will have access to a number of statistical analysis programs on the library
computers such as JMP. Microsoft Excel may also perform most basic statistical tests.
Other programs such as R, Prism, etc may be available for free or may allow a free
trial. Find a statistical program that you feel comfortable with for your data analysis.
Finding a program you find easy to use will greatly reduce your workload when
performing analysis on your data.
References:
When appropriate supply references in your written text. You should be referencing
any and all material that is not your own. Use in text citations (ie Rheault, 2007 for
single author publications, Rheault and ODonnell, 2007 for publications with two
authors or Rheault et al. 2007 for multiple author publications).
Include a complete Works Cited or References list at the end of your report. Here
you should list the complete information for the paper including:
-all author names listed in order of authorship
-year of publication
-title of publication
-name of the journal
-edition/volume of the journal
-page numbers in the journal
-when in doubt, look at a paper from the Journal of Experimental Biology (such as the
example below) and use the paper to see how a fully formatted paper correctly
references published material
Example:
Rheault, M.R., Okech, B.A., Keen, S.B.W., Miller, M.M., Meleshkevitch, E.A.,
Lisner, P.J., Boudko, D.Y. and Harvey, W.R. 2007. Molecular cloning, phylogeny
and localization of AgNHA1: the first Na+/H+ antiporter (NHA) from a metazoan,
Anopheles gambiae. J. Exp. Biol. 210, 3848-3861.
REMEMBER: not referencing the material of others is considered theft of intellectual
property and plagiarism and can be dealt with accordingly

Biology 354: Cell Physiology

Lab #1: [TITLE]
Instructor: [PROFESSOR NAME]

TA: [TEACHING ASSISTANT NAME]

Lab Section: [L01]

Student Name: ____________________

Student Number:___________________
Partner(s):________________________
Date:____________________________