Compose a report of experimental results (sometimes referred to as a ‘lab report’ when used as an instructional exercise) detailing an experiment of your own design. The experiment should be designed for use with the simulator and data gathered should be generated by the simulator. Your report should meet the following requirements:
Include the following four sections in your report:
Introduction: provides sufficient background information for the reader to understand your work; summarizes your observation and research question; states your hypotheses (including factual basis for your alternate hypothesis).
Materials and methods: describes experimental design, habitat location, subject species, tools used (you’re using a computer and the web-based simulator), and analytical approach.
Results: describes the data collected, with particular attention paid to your response variable(s); data is summarized in figures and/or tables; outcomes of statistical analysis are described.
Discussion: interpretation of results; evaluation of hypotheses; comparison of results to other studies; application of results; improvements and next steps.
Include at least one cited academic source of your own choosing to legitimize your alternate hypothesis. If you’ll think back to the experimental design lab, I suggested that your alternate hypothesis should achieve a sufficient level of predictive detail. Don’t predict that treatment levels will differ, instead predict which treatment level will be more (or less, etc.). There needs to be a factual basis for your prediction, and this required source should provide that basis. Use citation format similar to the Sherman and Morton article.
Produce one table and one figure (graph) that summarizes the data you collected. Be sure to label all axes. Include a brief caption for each. Name and caption of table goes above it, while name and caption of figure goes below it. See published articles for examples of proper format.
Write concisely, and always be mindful to avoid plagiarism. The written report does not need to be long, but it does need to meet all of the requirements stated above
