Step 1: Read this post all the way to the end!

Instructions for the Introduction, Procedure, and some of the Results section (creating a data table) are included in last Friday’s post (October 20).  For today, students should complete the Results section by calculating the average of each egg solution group.  For example, add up all of the change in mass values for the eggs that were in corn syrup, then divide by the number of eggs that were in corn syrup.  Repeat for all of the solutions.  Remember, the more data you include, the more “real” your results will be.  Please consider adding data from one or more additional class periods!  All of the data from my three biology classes can be found on last Thursday’s post (October 19).

Next, write the Discussion section.  In the Discussion paragraph, discuss what you think your results mean.  Do they make sense given what you know about osmosis (think about a cell – the egg – in isotonic, hypotonic, and hypertonic solutions).  Explain your thinking!  Explain why you think the egg changed mass in the different solutions.  What evidence do you have for the movement of water across the cell membrane?  Why do you think some of the eggs gained or lost more or less mass (why were the results variable)?  How can we use the word “homeostasis” to describe how the egg changed mass when placed in a different environment?  What are three possible sources of error that could have affected the results?  What would you change to improve the experiment next time?  All of these questions should be addressed in the Discussion section.  You may need to write more than one paragraph to clearly explain your thinking.

In the Conclusion section, write a paragraph explaining both what happened in the experiment and how it connects with the research you have done into Lena Bedolla and her death from Ecstasy.  How can you use the evidence to help explain what happened to Lena?  You should be able to explain how Ecstasy changed the way Lena’s urinary (excretory) system worked, affecting her cardiovascular system and her nervous system, and ultimately leading to her death.  Your Conclusion section should clearly explain how the Egg Lab provides evidence to support your understanding of why Lena died.

Finally, if you used any outside resources (other websites) to help you with this lab report, list them in the References section.  If you didn’t use any, you do not have to include a References section.

This lab report is due tomorrow at the end of the class period.  If you think you will need additional time, work on it tonight as homework.

Introduction

• What did we do?
• Why did we do it?  
• What were we observing?  
• What were we learning about?

Procedure – should be in your lab notebook and on class website

1. Step 1
2. Step 2
3. Continue until finished

Results

Data table of class data (Table > Insert table > select number of columns and rows

Calculate average values for solution groups

Graph the averages (use Google Sheets)

Discussion

Conclusion

References