BIOL 1132DEnvironmental Science Lab
SP 22
Lab Exercise Clean-Ups in My Community- Solid and Biohazard Waste
I. INTRODUCTION
Write a few paragraphs about the background information for this lab exercise. You can
use your textbook or any other reputable source of information (i.e., NO Wikipedia!).
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
Write what you actually did, including the materials that you actually used. In this
particular exercise, a calculator perhaps.
Instructions:
1. Visit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency site:
https://www.epa.gov/cleanups/cleanups-my-community
2. Scroll down and click on the interactive map on the state of Texas.
3. Once here, click open the legend icon on to the upper right to learn about what the icons
on the map represent.
4. Scroll in so that you are making the area of texas larger. Where are you seeing the largest
number of clean up sites? Make a note of which cites/counties/towns and write this into
your results section.
5. Next scroll into the DFW area. What is the largest cleanup types you are seeing
represented? Record those numbers for each clean up in a table and place in your results
section.
6. Next, Click on the “define your community tab” and choose the drop down of zip code
under the first box; from here enter your zip code of your home town- make a table
reporting all of the types of cleanup in your area and be sure to put this into your results
section.
7. Lastly, scroll back out to state level and report out how many “Incidences of National
Significance” are in Texas, where and what are those sites? Record in your results.
Compare that to how many you find nationally.
III. RESULTS
Include in this section your individual results (you can either scan or have saved the results as
electronic files).
IV. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Discuss your results including where you are seeing the largest collection of cleanup sites
and why you think this is. Also discuss how the state and city findings compare to what you
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discovered in your own zip code; did you think clean up sites were in your community? Why or
why not? If so, explain what sites you already new existed.
Please make sure to include the following in your final Lab report:
•
•
•
All included sections of the Lab Report as described in the “How to write a lab write
up module”
Double-spaced, 12-point font.
Any references used in APA citation format
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Example Sample of What a Lab Report Looks Like
Example Sample of What a Lab Report Looks Like
BIOL 1132
January 4, XXX
Introduction:
VARGA, KELLY
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Example Sample of What a Lab Report Looks Like
In preparation of college level submission, students often need guidance of how to correctly navigate
the proper arrangement of how to put together a lab report. The purpose of lab reports is to provide a
high level overview of what the lab consisted of including: its purpose, its methodology, results/data,
and overall conclusions. Students leaving the learning environment of high school may not have had
exposure or guidance in years prior to college, thus providing a lab report sample may help to address
immediate concerns. In this lab report example, the goal is to prove whether or not the hypothesis is
valid: That students who open and view the provided a sample lab report in the first week of class, will
earn higher grades than those who wait to view the sample or do not review the sample at all.
Methods: In this experiment the following materials and procedures were followed:
1. (High level overview of step one)
2. (High level overview of step two)
3. Etc.
Results/Data: (this is example data and its layout taken randomly from the stated sources)
Graph 1: Student 1 Lab Reports and Average
Student 1 Lab Reports Grades
95
90
85
80
75
Lab Report 1
Lab report 2
Lab report 3
Average
Source: Made up by Dr. Varga
Student
Date of
viewing of
Lab Report 1
Lab Report 2
Lab Report 3
Average
VARGA, KELLY
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Example Sample of What a Lab Report Looks Like
example
report
1
After receiving 80
83.5
lab report 1’s
grade
2
Never Opened 60
55
or Viewed
3
First Day of
89
90
Class
4
After receiving 40
60
lab report 2’s
grade
engagement with Example Report and Average Grade
Table 2:
Student
90
84.5
50
55
95
91.3
90
63.3
Source: Made up by Dr. Varga
Discussion:
By providing an example, individuals often are able to generate an understanding of what is expected
out of an activity. Here, by providing an writing sample of what a lab report is to look like, students are
more likely to produce lab reports of their own, which correctly display the appropriate and necessary
information in their future lab reports thus securing a higher grade earned. As provided in Graph 1,
student 1 showed a drastic improvement of over time by using the example. Data Table 2, demonstrates
that how soon a student opened up this sample lab report related to their overall trend of lab report
VARGA, KELLY
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Example Sample of What a Lab Report Looks Like
grades over time. For example, student 3 opened this example report on day one and received the
highest overall average while student 2 did not open the sample lab report and received the lowest
average. Furthermore, students 1 and 4 demonstrate that timing of opening after receiving a bad grade
can possibly produce a higher grade after viewing. Overall, these results confirm that by providing a
sample lab report and depending on the timing of when students view this help correlates to a higher
average outcome overall.
VARGA, KELLY
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