GENERAL EDUCATION COMMON ASSIGNMENT TEMPLATE

Note: This is the assignment that all professors teaching a section in the San Jacinto College Core Curriculum during fall 2014 will agree upon, teach, assign, assess and document in Blackboard. Submit one assignment per course to the Office of Vice Chancellor for Learning and Assessment. Due no later than February 7.

I. TITLE & NUMBER OF THE COURSE:Biol 1406 – Biology for Science Majors I

II. TITLE OF THE ASSIGNMENT:Lab Report #2 – Enzyme Lab

III. GENERAL EDUCATION CORE OBJECTIVES TO BE ASSESSED WITH THIS ASSIGNMENT (List specific general education outcomes and any student learning outcomes):General Education Outcomes:

Communication Skills, Critical Thinking Skills, Empirical and Quantitative Skills, and TeamworkStudent Learning Outcomes:

Lab 1: Apply scientific reasoning to investigate questions and utilize scientific tools such as microscopes and laboratory equipment to collect and analyze data.

Lab 2: Use critical thinking and scientific problem-solving to make informed decisions in the laboratory.Lab 3: Communicate effectively the results of scientific investigations.Lab 9: Identify the substrates, products, and important chemical pathways in metabolism.

IV. DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNMENT (as it would appear in your syllabus or class handouts)

See the following pages for:1) A description of the lab, including pages that will be turned in by the group on the day of the lab2) “Lab Report Materials” – Information provided to the students on how to write a lab report. it

includes a grading rubric detailing how the lab report will be graded. An individual lab report will be turned in by each students.

3) Teamwork Assessment Form – To be turned in individually by each student assessing the performance of him/her self and the members of that team.

Experiment #4: Design your own experiment (NOTE: This activity would be part of a larger lab including experiments that investigate the activity, specificity, and ideal conditions of the enzyme catalase)This is the section of the lab that you will be writing your lab report about. You and your lab partners will have to turn in the following:

1) a groupwork assignment turned in during this lab describing your materials, procedures, and results (one per group)

2) INDIVIDUAL lab reports describing this experiment (these must be done independently)3) INDIVIDUAL teamwork assessment documents describing how well all the members of your

group did or did not contribute to the team’s success

Your lab group will need to design an experiment to test EITHERa) the effect of enzyme concentration on catalase activity orb) the effect of substrate concentration on catalase activity

Your instructor will tell you which of these you are testing.

Your lab group must create the protocol to test the appropriate variable, including a list of necessary materials and the steps you followed during the experiment.

What variable will your group be testing?____________________________________________1) Brainstorm within your group to determine a rough idea of how you will carry out your

experiment. Describe it the general protocol. __________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2) What materials will be necessary for you to carry out this experiment? Be specific! This information needs to be included on your lab report._____________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3) What is the control concentration for your group’s experiment? ___________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4) What other conditions will you test? Your group must test at least two other concentrations during the experiment (e.g. 3 cm of enzyme and 5 cm of substrate, or 0.5 cm of enzyme and 4 cm of substrate). Be very specific in describing your test tubes. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Use the space below to list the method you and your group use to carry out the experiment. Be VERY specific – you will use this information in writing your lab report. (Use only as many steps as are necessary). Check your experimental design with your instructor before continuing.

Step 1: ______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 2: ______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 3: ______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 4: ______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 5: ______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 6: ______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 7: ______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Step 8: ______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Use this page to record the results of the experiment your group performs. Use only as many rows of the table as necessary.

Results of testing for effect of concentration

Tube Amount of enzyme in cm

Amount of peroxide in cm

Bubble column height in mm Results

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Graphs your results below. Makes sure to label your graph.

Bubble column height (in mm)

What effect does variable you tested have on catalase activity?________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Do you think it would be possible to have too much of this substance in the tube? What would happen then? _______________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________What do you think would happen if each of the test tubes you tested if the experiment was allowed to run indefinitely? Would all the test tubes eventually have the same amount of product?____________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lab Report MaterialsGeneral Instructions for Writing Lab Reports

Writing a lab report is a standard feature of science lab classes. It will be part of your grade for each lab practical this semester, because it is the best way to organize all of the information needed to understand the lab procedures and results. A person should be able to read your lab report and:

Know exactly how to do this experiment Find a table, graph or photo of your results Know what you concluded at the end of your experiment Know what experiment you would do next to follow up on these results

Science writing is somewhat different from writing for other disciplines. What are the major differences that you should look out for?

The passive voice is used. So instead of writing, “I measured the bone with the meter stick,” it would be “The bone was measured with a meter stick”. The report is about the work, not about you.

Methods and Results should be written in the past tense because these are things that have already happened.

Sentences should be as short as possible, and only the most relevant information is included. Direct quotes are never used. Everything must be rewritten in your own words. Directly copying (or only slightly

modifying) someone else’s work (including the work of other students) is plagiarism and will result in a grade of 0.

The format of a lab report is also different. These are the seven headings that you will use to write the lab report:

Purpose of this lab: What did you learn from this lab? What did the experiments teach you about biology? This section should consist of only one or two sentences.

Introduction: This part gives background information about the particular subject that the lab covers and the experiment being performed. You will need references for this section. Your references may NOT include the lab manual.

Materials: The equipment and supplies used should be listed. Specific information should be given as to amounts, concentrations, and so on. Make sure you include ALL of the materials used in the procedure outlined in your lab report. Likewise, make sure you include ONLY the materials used in the procedure outlined in your lab report.

Methods: The write-up of the methods should be similar to a detailed recipe. It must be written in paragraph form. A person who has never done this lab should be able to read this section and know exactly what equipment and supplies are needed and how to perform the experiment.

Results: What was the final outcome of the lab? This will include measurements, illustrations, and answers to questions on the grading rubric. A person who has never done this lab should be able to read this section and know exactly what happened in the lab.

Discussion: This section should explain what the results mean. What was learned? How does this apply to similar situations? It also describes the next experiment that could be done based on the results seen here.

References: When you mention someone else’s work, you give them credit for it. References usually are found in the Introduction and the Discussion section of a report. First, you rewrite it in your own words (Do not use direct quotes!). Then you insert a citation telling where the information comes from. The full information about the reference comes at the end of the report.

For example, in one reference you find the sentence “The Metric System was developed in France under Napoleon in the 1790’s for the purpose of standardization of units as trade expanded through Europe.” You might rewrite this as: The metric system was implemented as a way to standardize units of measurement throughout Europe. It was created in France during the 1790’s (Hoobler et al, 2007). At the very end of the report, you put the entire reference. There is no standard scientific format for references, so we are going to use the standard APA format.

The grading rubric shows you exactly how your professor will grade your report. The maximum possible number of points that you can earn is broken down by section. As you are writing your report, you should be using the grading rubric to ensure that you have included everything that you should be in the report. That is the way to get the highest grade possible.

Grading rubric, Lab report 2 Lab 9: Enzymes, Experiment #4 –Design your own experimentName: ______________________________________________________________________

Points earned

Points possible Section

1 Purpose: Objectives of the lab are explained in one or two sentences.

5Introduction: First paragraph is a description of enzymes: their function in the cell, what type of molecule they are, how they affect chemical reactions, and what conditions can affect enzyme activity

5

Introduction: Describe the experiment done in lab. What was the enzyme, and what reaction did it catalyze (what were the reactants and products)? What was the source of the enzyme? What variable was tested in the experiment? What was the control?

2 Materials: All materials used in this experiment are listed, bulleted list is acceptable.

4 Methods: The procedure is described in paragraph form, written in past tense and passive voice

5 Groupwork complete: Materials, Methods, and Results were turned in by the group on the day of the lab.

5 Results: Graph made in Excel is used to display the results. It is clearly labeled.4 Results: Results are also described in a short paragraph.

4 Discussion: The results for each condition tested are explained. Which condition resulted in the most activity?

5 Discussion: If the tubes were left to sit for 15 minutes undisturbed, would this affect the results? Why or why not?

5 Discussion: The next experiment you would do if this was your research project is described in detail, including a hypothesis.

2 References: At least two references are used and are in APA format. One may be the textbook, but you may not use the lab manual or Hoobler reference.

1Grammar and format: Document is typed, left justified, Calibri or Arial 10 point font or larger, single spaced, in paragraph form, written in past tense, uses the correct subject headings

2 Grammar and format: Sentence structure and spelling is correct, words “I” and “we” are not used, no direct quotes

10 Teamwork Evaluation: Points awarded based on how your professor and team members evaluate your participation and contribution

60 Total points for the lab report60 Total points given for lab practical

120 Overall points awarded100 Percentage Grade (Final grade for lab practical 2)

APA Style for Citations and References

For this course you should never use direct quotations in your lab reports. Please use your words and only your words in your reports. When you use information (not words) from a source, it must be referenced AND cited.

References are listed alphabetically at the end of the lab report. They can be used by anyone who reads your document to find your original sources. Each reference should contain at minimum the following: Author name or names, title of work, and publication date. Anything taken from the internet should include the URL and the date the work was referenced.

Citations appear in the text of the document and refer the reader to the reference that was the source of the preceding information. The correct format for in-text citations is to include the author’s name (or an abbreviated version of the title if no author is available) and the year of publications. It should be immediately obvious what reference a citation is referring to; if this is not the case then you are doing something wrong.

Here are some examples for how to reference and cite some common materials you may use in writing your lab report.

Books and Journals

The reference needs to include enough information to ensure a reader can find it quickly, easily, and specifically. If only part of a work is referenced (e.g. a chapter of a book) that should be noted.

Author name or names. (Year of publication). Title of article or chapter. Title of journal or book, Volume (issue), page numbers. Brooker, Robert, Eric Widmaier, Linda Graham, and Peter Stiling. (2014). Simple Patterns of Inheritance. Biology 3rd Edition, 321-342.

Herbst-Damm, K.L., & Kulik, J.A. (2005). Volunteer support, marital status, and the survival times of terminally ill patients. Health Psychology, 24, 225-229.

In-text citations should use the format (author, year of publication).

Gregor Mendel made thousands of crosses of peas in his lifetime (Brooker, 2014).

People survive difficult times better when they have a support network (Herbst-Damm & Kulik, 2005).

Websites (List as much information as possible; you may need to hunt around the webpage to find all the information)

Author name or names. (Date of Publication). Title of webpage. Retrieved [date] from [web address]

Harris, William. (18 January 2001). "How DNA Evidence Works." Retrieved 6 January 2014 from http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/genetic/dna-evidence.htm

Half of a person’s DNA markers come from their mother and half from their father (Harris, 2001).

If there is no author given for a website, then the reference should begin with the name of the webpage, which should also be used in the citation:

“Apomixis.” (2 January 2014). Retrieved 6 January 2014 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apomixis

Apomixis is the asexual reproduction of plants through seeds (Apomixis, 2014).

If there is no date of publication given for a website use the abbreviation n.d. The citation should also include this abbreviation.

Johnson, Tina. (n.d.). “Foods Rich with Enzymes.” Retrieved 6 January 2014 from http://www.mbspirit.net/uploads/Foods_Rich_with_Enzymes.pdf

Many of the foods we eat contain enzymes (Johnson, n.d.).

Social media sites such as YouTube can also be used as references. The screen name and, if possible real name, of the person posting the information should be used.

Author, A. A. [Screen name]. (Date of Publication). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved [date] from [web address]

Andersen, Paul. [Bozeman Science]. (21 April 2012). Meiosis [video file]. Retrieved 6 January 2014 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB_8dTuh73c

7DrDon. (16 May 2011). Protein synthesis (DNA transcription, translation and folding) [video file]. Retrieved 6 January 2014 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erOP76_qLWA

The female gamete is the egg and the male gamete is the sperm (Andersen, 2012).

Translation, or production of the protein, occurs at the ribosome (7DrDon, 2011).How To Avoid Plagiarism

Plagiarism is claiming someone else’s words as your own and will results in a grade of 0 in this course. The purpose of writing a lab report is to demonstrate understanding of the material; copying-and-pasting someone else’s work indicates that this has not been achieved.

For example, a student wants to use the following information in the lab report:A molecule or compound is made when two or more atoms form a chemical bond, linking them together. The two types of bonds are ionic bonds and covalent bonds. In an ionic bond, the atoms are bound together by the attraction between oppositely-charged ions. For example, sodium and chloride form an ionic bond, to make NaCl, or table salt. (Helmenstine, n.d.)

It would NOT be acceptable to quote any part of this information; direct quotes are not allowed in your lab report. It would also NOT be acceptable to only slightly modify the wording of this information. For example:

Molecules or compounds are formed when two or more atoms are linked in a chemical bond. Ionic bonds and covalent bonds are the two types of bonds. In ionic bonds, atoms are held together by attractions between oppositely-charged ions (Helmenstine, n.d.).

The sentences above are plagiarized and would earn this student a 0 on the lab report. They do NOT demonstrate understanding of the science that is being explained.

The simplest way to avoid plagiarism is to read the material, set it aside, and without looking at it write what you remember from what you read. This way the content or learning from the material will be in your own word. For example,

Chemicals are formed through two types of bonds, covalent bonds and ionic bonds. These bonds hold atoms together to make compounds and molecules. Ionic bonds are formed by attractions between positive and negative ions (Helmenstine, n.d.).

These sentences have the same information, but the writing style is quite different. The changes show that the student understands what is being written.

References:Helmenstine, Anne Marie. (n.d.). “What Is the Difference Between an Ionic and Covalent Chemical Bond?” Retrieved 6 January 2014 from http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistrystudentfaqs/f/bondtypes.htm.

Sample Lab Report #2Name: James BondLab: Lab #9, Enzymes, Effects of pH on Enzyme ActivityDue date:

PurposeThe purpose of this experiment was to study the effects of pH on catalase enzyme activity.

IntroductionEvery chemical reaction within the cell requires an enzyme to lower its activation energy. Even

exergonic reactions happen too slowly to be useful without a catalyst. Almost all enzymes are proteins. To catalyze a reaction, the enzyme must interact with the reactant or reactants. This interaction takes place in a region of the enzyme called the active site. The reactant, or substrate for the enzyme, must fit perfectly into the active site of the enzyme in order for the enzyme to operate. Therefore, most enzymes are only able to catalyze a single chemical reaction. This is called specificity, and most enzymes are very specific (Cecamgmmacz, 2011). Under favorable conditions, the enzyme can operate with maximum efficiency, and the chemical reaction occurs very rapidly. This is an enzyme’s optimum activity (Brooker, 2011). Some environmental conditions, e.g. temperature and pH, can affect an enzymes activity. The concentration of enzyme or substrate can also have a dramatic effect on enzyme activity, and that is the variable studied in this report.

The enzyme being studied was called catalase, which was isolated from potato and liver. Its substrate is hydrogen peroxide, and its products are oxygen gas and water. In this experiment the behavior of the catalase enzyme was tested at a variety of different pH levels. A neutral pH of 7 was used as the control environment because the enzyme would react favorably in this environment, since most living organisms (including potatoes) maintain a relatively neutral internal environment.

Materials Catalase isolated from potatoes Hydrogen peroxide Water HCl NaOH

Wax pencil Metric ruler Test tubes Pipettes

MethodsTest tubes 1-3 were numbered and labeled at 1cm, 3cm, and 7cm from the bottom of the tube.

Each was filled to the 1cm mark with potato juice (catalase). Tube 1 was filled to the 3cm mark with HCl, tube 2 was filled to the 3cm mark with distilled water, and tube 3 was filled to the 3cm mark with NaOH. Each tube was then allowed to sit for 5 minutes at room temperature. Then, one at a time, each tube was filled to the 7 cm mark with hydrogen peroxide and, after 20 seconds had elapsed, the bubble column height was measured and recorded. Tube 2 overflowed, so the height of the tube was recorded as the bubble column height for that sample.

ResultsThe greatest enzyme activity was seen at pH 7, which had 120cm of oxygen bubbles. At pH 4, 0

cm of oxygen bubbles were measured and at pH 12, 0 cm of oxygen bubbles were measured.

pH = 4 pH = 7 pH = 120

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0

12

0

Height of Bubble Column in cm

Height of Bubble Column in cm

DiscussionOnly one tube, the tube at pH 7, had a measurable amount of oxygen bubbles, showing that the

enzyme was active. Normal physiological pH is 7.4, so this tube was very close to the normal pH of living cells. The enzyme catalase was able to work well under these conditions. At pH 4 and pH 12, the enzyme was not active. These extreme pH levels denatured the catalase, changing its shape so that it could not break down the hydrogen peroxide (Brooker, 2011).

This experiment could have been improved by making it possible to measure smaller changes in pH. This would have allowed comparisons of pH values close to 7, such as 7.8 or 7.3. Under these conditions, it would have been possible to determine exactly which pH change inactivates the enzyme.

Future experiments could include the one described above. Another similar experiment could test other important enzymes such as proteases or lipases under different pH conditions. Another could test the enzymes found in the stomach, which are normally active at acidic pH values. The results seen here would predict that these enzymes would not be inactivated by acidity, but instead might be inactive at neutral pH.

ReferencesBrooker, Robert, Eric Widmaier, Linda Graham, and Peter Stiling. (2011). An Introduction to Energy, Enzymes, and Metabolism. Biology 2nd Edition, 118-135.

Cecamgmmacz. (14 July 2011). Enzymes activation energy [Video file]. Retrieved 2 February from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd1yi2aVoOc

Teamwork Evaluation FormName:________________________________________________________Lab Used for Group Project:_______________________________________Lab Day and Time:______________________________________________

Self-Evaluation: Please answer these questions about how you personally contributed to the team.

1. On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = am amazing contributor, 5 = did absolutely nothing), how would you rate your overall contribution to the team?_______________________

2. What role did you play in team meetings or discussions (online or face-to-face)? What ideas or work did you contribute?

3. How would you describe the quality of the work you personally were responsible for? How did it compare to work produced by other students?

4. How did you discuss other team members’ ideas for the project? In what ways did you encourage participation by all team members?

5. Give an example of a conflict (a difference of opinion or a problem) within your team and what you did to help resolve it.

6. Did you behave in a professional manner? Were you on time to all classes and team meetings? Did you follow through on all your commitments?

Individual Team Member Evaluations: Please use a different page to evaluate each member of your team. Use only the pages that are necessary (i.e. if your team only had three people, you will not use all the pages)

Name of Team Member Being Evaluated on this page:_____________________________________

1. On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = am amazing contributor, 5 = did absolutely nothing), how would you rate this person’s overall contribution to the team?_______________________

2. What role did this person play in team meetings or discussions (online or face-to-face)? What ideas or work did they contribute?

3. How would you describe the quality of the work this person was responsible for? How did it compare to work produced by other students?

4. How did you discuss this team members’ ideas for the project? In what ways did he or she encourage participation by all team members?

5. Did this person behave in a professional manner? Was he or she on time to all classes and team meetings? Did he or she follow through on all the commitments?

6. If given a choice, would you want to work with this individual again on another group project?

Name of Team Member Being Evaluated on this page:_____________________________________

1. On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = am amazing contributor, 5 = did absolutely nothing), how would you rate this person’s overall contribution to the team?_______________________

2. What role did this person play in team meetings or discussions (online or face-to-face)? What ideas or work did they contribute?

3. How would you describe the quality of the work this person was responsible for? How did it compare to work produced by other students?

4. How did you discuss this team members’ ideas for the project? In what ways did he or she encourage participation by all team members?

5. Did this person behave in a professional manner? Was he or she on time to all classes and team meetings? Did he or she follow through on all the commitments?

6. If given a choice, would you want to work with this individual again on another group project?

Name of Team Member Being Evaluated on this page:_____________________________________

1. On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = am amazing contributor, 5 = did absolutely nothing), how would you rate this person’s overall contribution to the team?_______________________

2. What role did this person play in team meetings or discussions (online or face-to-face)? What ideas or work did they contribute?

3. How would you describe the quality of the work this person was responsible for? How did it compare to work produced by other students?

4. How did you discuss this team members’ ideas for the project? In what ways did he or she encourage participation by all team members?

5. Did this person behave in a professional manner? Was he or she on time to all classes and team meetings? Did he or she follow through on all the commitments?

6. If given a choice, would you want to work with this individual again on another group project?

Name of Team Member Being Evaluated on this page:_____________________________________

1. On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = am amazing contributor, 5 = did absolutely nothing), how would you rate this person’s overall contribution to the team?_______________________

2. What role did this person play in team meetings or discussions (online or face-to-face)? What ideas or work did they contribute?

3. How would you describe the quality of the work this person was responsible for? How did it compare to work produced by other students?

4. How did you discuss this team members’ ideas for the project? In what ways did he or she encourage participation by all team members?

5. Did this person behave in a professional manner? Was he or she on time to all classes and team meetings? Did he or she follow through on all the commitments?

6. If given a choice, would you want to work with this individual again on another group project?