BIOL10010 Written Practical Report
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Written Practical Report
REQUIREMENTS
Draft Due
Your draft is due 1:00 pm AEST Monday 2nd October, before your scheduled Tutorial 10.
Final Due
Your final is due 1:00 pm AEST Monday 16th October.
Word limit
400 words (± 10%); excluding sub-headings (for the sections of the report, e.g., Introduction),
references (in-text citations and the reference list), tables and table headers (should you include
a table), and axes labels and figure captions for graphs.
Referencing
You are required to follow APA 7, for further instructions on referencing, please go to
https://library.unimelb.edu.au/recite.
Return date
Grades and feedback will be returned to students on Friday 3rd November.
Weighting
The assignment is worth 10% of your subject grade.
Similarity
Students can view similarity for their final Written Practical Report after the final due date. They
cannot view similarity for their drafts.
Purpose
Lab reports form an important part of documenting experimental work in scientific research.
Writing lab reports is part of learning to be a scientist, and provides you with experience writing
scientific journal articles. Through this assessment you will develop your analysis and scientific
communication skills.
BIOL10010 Written Practical Report
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Timeline for Written Practical report
Week commencing 14th August 2023
Practical 2 opens on Canvas for data collection in the week beginning Monday 14th August. After
Practical 2, the Canvas Assignment opens for you to start drafting your report.
Week commencing Monday 2nd October 2023
Have a draft of your Written Practical Report in Tutorial 10 ready for peer review. If you upload
your draft to Assignments in Canvas before the deadline (see above), your draft reviewed
anonymously during Tutorial 10.
Monday 16th October 2023
Final submission of Written Practical Report is due.
Task Description ✏️
Write a scientific laboratory report for part of Practical 2: Population Genetics, specifically for
Activity 5: Investigating Selection Using the Virtual Biology Lab Popgen Fishbowl Simulation.
During Practical 2 you will measure the change of phenotypic and allelic frequencies when you
alter the selection pressure on the virtual population of koi fish.
You will collect data using the virtual model, and you will analyse and present this data in your
submitted report. When you are collecting the data, use the genotypic frequency values (p2, 2pq,
q2) from the simulation. Use these values to calculate p and q using the equation from Lecture 8:
Part 2. Use the correct allele notations to show co-dominance, not the notations from the
simulation.
In your discussion section, answer the following questions:
Q5f: What effect did selection have on the frequency of the genotype whose fitness you
changed?
Q5g: What outcome would you predict if you were to keep running this experiment for
another 10 generations?
Q5h: Name the type of selection you have modelled in Activity 5 of the practical and
comment on the effect it would have on a distribution curve of phenotypes.
Extra Assignment Question (answer this too): How does selection shape microevolution?
Give an example where it has shaped human evolution.
Note: write the answers cohesively within a paragraph or two in the Discussion; do not use a
question- and answer- format.
You will receive feedback from your peers on a draft of your Written Practical Report, if you
submit a draft by 1:00 pm AEST 2nd October via Assignments on Canvas as a pdf document.
These drafts will be peer reviewed as an activity during Tutorial 10.
BIOL10010 Written Practical Report
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Here are the Resources that are available to you:
• BIOL10010 Practical 2
• Written Practical Report: Frequently Asked Questions
• Access Excel (free) through Office 365 as a student - we suggest you download Excel to
your device, https://studentit.unimelb.edu.au/software/office-365
• Three videos: Plotting data using Excel, Using Data, Writing Scientifically
• Slides from Tutorial 10
• "Writing Science Lab Reports" from the Academic Skill Unit
• Citing and referencing in APA format (see Library resources)
• Marking Rubric for the Written Practical Report
Checklist ✅
Tick off items from the checklist as you complete them.
Step 1: Task Understanding
❑ Read the task description carefully.
❑ Read the Marking Rubric.
Step 2: Plan Report
Plan your report using this structure:
❑ Introduction: Provide an overview of what to expect. Including:
o Context: Provide background information that cites relevant scholarly literature
(use at least 2 references, correctly cited).
o Aims: Outline any aims of the experiment.
o Hypothesis: State the hypothesis of the experiment.
❑ Method: Write a brief outline of the method.
o You should refer to the Practical 2 notes and the Virtual Biology Lab Popgen
Fishbowl Simulation Tutorial and state the selective pressure that you chose to
investigate.
❑ Results: Present the results of your experiment. Including:
o Findings: Describe your findings in words.
o Images: Use a figure (graph) to communicate what you found.
❑ Discussion: Analyse your findings, linking to the Introduction. Including:
o The discussion questions (5f – 5h) in the practical notes and the Extra Assignment
Question: How does selection shape microevolution? Give an example where it
has shaped human evolution.
o Studies: Do your findings agree with previous studies? If not, why?
o Methodology: Could you have done your procedure any differently? Could the
FishBowl PopGen program be improved?
BIOL10010 Written Practical Report
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❑ Conclusion: Summarise your findings. Including:
o Hypothesis: Do your findings support the hypothesis? If not, why?
o Implications of findings: How does selection enhance the effects of other forces
of microevolution?
❑ Reference List: Include a list of all references that you cited in the correct format (APA style).
Step 3: Peer Review
❑ Submit a draft via Assignments in Canvas by 1:00 pm AEST 2nd October.
❑ You will be peer-reviewing your fellow students’ reports as an activity during Tutorial 10.
Instructions will be provided during your Tutorial 10 class.
Step 4: Edit and Finalise Report
❑ Use the feedback from your peers to continue to write your Written Practical Report. Things
to remember with writing:
o Clarity: use short, simple sentences and familiar, non-technical terms.
o Conciseness: please adhere to the word limit.
o Objectivity: be unbiased and unemotional, using facts or evidence.
o Accuracy: present accurate and complete information.
TIP: to avoid plagiarism, you must give credit if you use the work of others; use in-text citations
and a reference list (APA format). You must use your own words and work when writing the
Written Practical Report.
Step 5: Submit Final
❑ Read the Marking Rubric again to check that you have met the criteria.
❑ Submit your Written Practical Report as a pdf document.
❑ Once graded, review feedback in Assignments.