o write these sections can be found in your Student Handbook for Writing in Biology. Make sure to read the associated pages BEFORE you begin to write. (I will attached the pages)

Results; Start at the bottom of page 55 and read through to page 61 where it says Preparing Visuals. See relevant slides from lab lecture

Graphs: You need to read the section on organizing your data which starts at the bottom of page 72 and continues to page 75. You do need to pay attention to attention to figure 4.1 in the text as
it outlines how to label your graphs properly. If you need help actually creating graphs in Excel, there is an appendix in your book (Appendix 2; page 203) that walks you through the process. There
is also a video for our class – the link is in the lecture slides.

Discussion: This is a very short piece in the book (found on page 76). A couple of key points to add to what is the text: while it says to discuss inconsistencies or possible sources of errors, it
does not mean that you should say “we made a mistake”, or “we did (insert procedure) wrong”. It means that you should discuss things that could have contributed to any variability or ways in which
another test might be perform to add to the results. For example: “variation in the temperature may have results in differences in the rates at which….”, or “another test that could help to
clarify the results would be…..”.
**Please note that there are NO POINTS associated with discussing “errors.” If you completely undermine the validity of the experiment by focusing on “errors” you will not be able to do the parts
of the assignment for which you do get points. The point of the discussion is to explain our results and put them into the context of a larger body of scientific work. Therefore, you MUST cites
sources; you must use 2 new sources that you have not cited in the introduction (see relevant slides from lab lecture) .
Homework:
Write Results section (separate from Discussion section)
This section describes patterns in the data (no interpretation)
Describe similarities and differences among groups for the 7th day without being repetitive – don’t use the same sentence “skeleton” for each description of the data
Describe patterns across all 7 days among groups, between days, etc
This should be at least 2 complete paragraphs, and will probably take up about 3/4 of a page not including the figure
Write Discussion section (separate from Results section)
This section interprets results, and contextualizes with literature
Begin discussion section with some sentences reminding the reader of the objective and hypothesis of the experiment, and main conclusion from results.
It is also useful to address the results in the context of your initial hypothesis given in the intro. It would be good to explicitly mention the hypothesis.
Interpret the results – why do we see the results/patterns that we see – build on observations made in the Results section and connect to concepts in the introduction
Connect results with the literature – compare AND contrast our results to results of other studies within the literature – these are great places to use your 2 new (ADDITIONAL) primary sources
(primary sources you used for the intro will not count as the two you need for the Discussion section)
Write Discussion section (separate from Results section)
This section interprets results, and contextualizes with literature
Discuss pitfalls of the experiment – why might our data be biased? why might we need to replicate our experiment? what should be changed for the next experiment
What is next? What are the questions that arise from our results? What additional information would we need to draw more detailed conclusions about the effect of salt solutions and osmosis on seed
germination?
End with a concluding paragraph so you don’t leave the reader hanging abruptly.

Here is the data you will use: http://bit.ly/2lMqdFN

The link to the video for making graphs in Excel can be found in the lecture slides, which I’ve uploaded to blackboard.

Make sure to review appropriate sections in your Handbook.

A few points I would like to clarify:

Sorting your data by the ‘experimental solution’ column in Excel will help make sure you don’t miss any values while calculating averages
Molarity is different from percent concentration (0.5M ≠ 0.5% ≠ 0.005% etc), please review if necessary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molar_concentration
Decimals are always preceded by a 0 : GOOD = 0.5, BAD = .5 (this helps the reader know you meant to put a decimal there)
chemical abbreviations should have proper capitalization (kcl is not correct)
bar graphs vs line graphs
bar graphs are used when the x-axis is categorical and the y-axis is continuous
line graphs are used when both the x-axis and y-axis are continuous
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categorical_variable
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_and_discrete_variables
The results and discussion sections are two separate sections (not the same section)
Any questions let me know and we can chat more. We won’t be having a peer-review session for this assignment next week, I would recommend VCU’s writing center.

Remember that this should be your own work, and that if you chat with other students about the assignment make sure you are not using each other’s work (make sure you’re not plagiarizing each
other, blackboard will be checking for this).

If you’re stuck and cannot write, read more papers.

A rubric has been provided to help you in your preparation of your results and discussion. As always it is vital that all of your work be in your own words and that you make sure to spell and
grammar check your work before submitting it.

……………………………………………………………….

I understand that this assignment will be checked against several databases for original content and will produce an originality report, which my instructor and I can view. This report will show
how my paper compares to documents available on the Internet, in many print journals, a database of other papers submitted by Virginia Commonwealth University students, as well as a Global Database
of papers submitted by all users of SafeAssign. I understand that my paper will be added to the Virginia Commonwealth University database for comparison of future papers against my work. I also
understand that if I select I agree to submit my paper to the Global Reference Database below, I am agreeing to have my paper stored in a Global Database of work so that future work of all students
using the SafeAssign system can be compared against my work. I understand that submitting my paper to the Global Database is completely voluntary. I maintain ownership of the original intellectual
property created, but this document must remain a part of the SafeAssign Institutional and Global Database. PLEASE NOTE: The SafeAssign originality report is not instantaneous. There will be a
slight time delay once assignments are submitted before any originality reports are created and posted. Please check back later after submitting your assignment.

INSTRUCTIONS:
Based on the second seed germination experiment, write a results and discussion. Make sure to use the guidelines/instructions that have been provided for you.