Introduction to Biology

NS 1021B: Organisms and the Environment

Safety Notebooks Lab Reports Links to Labs

Students must read the lab handout before the lab period. If we are efficient with our time, there should be little difficulty completing labs within our given time frame.

Safety:  Many of the labs we will be doing involve no hazardous materials.  However, occasionally we will be working with something mildly dangerous or poisonous. No food or drink is allowed in the lab during lab periods.  Hair below the shoulders should be tied back on those days when we are doing "wet labs".  Please no open toed shoes, as glassware can and does break.  Note the location of the eye wash and the safety shower.  The instructor will explain their use during the first lab period.

Notebooks: Much of Biology is observational. While we will be doing labs from a range of biological sub-disciplines, all labs require careful observation and recording of those observations. Therefore, each student needs to have a lab notebook or a lab section of their master notebook. Students will be expected to take notes on and/or draw sketches of what is happening and what they observe during lab. THESE NOTES SHOULD NOT BE RECORDED LATER! It is important that each student take notes as the lab is happening so that observations won't be forgotten.

Lab Reports: Lab reports are required for each lab. The form of the report will vary with the lab, and information on the report will be handed out with the lab each week. Requirements for each lab include:

• a brief statement of what the lab is and what its purpose is (how does it relate to topics we have covered in class).
• a description of what was done in the lab (procedures).
• any data collected, presented in a table or other easy-to-read format.
• conclusions drawn from the data.
• answers to questions asked in the lab handout in complete sentences (including a brief restatement of the question).
• a brief comment about what worked well in the lab and what didn't work well, and why.