Writing Assignment F2015 Biology
Writing Assignment F2015 Biology
Abstract
(1 point each unless otherwise indicated = 7 Points)
Read the abstract of the paper assigned, and answer the following questions:
1. What is the purpose of the abstract?
2. What types of information does the abstract convey?
3. What were the basic experimental methods used in this paper (what did the authors
actually do?)?
4. What were the most important results from this experiment?
5. Do the authors cite any other studies in their abstract?
6. Is it normal practice to cite other works in abstract?
7. What is the approximate length of an abstract?
Introduction
(1 point each unless otherwise indicated = 11 Points)
Read the Introduction section of this paper. You may not fully understand the terminology used
in the Introduction, but you should understand enough to get a general sense of what information
is conveyed in the Introduction. Answer the following questions.
1. What is the purpose of the literature review in the Introduction?
2. What is different about the research in this study than that of other researchers on the
same topic? I.e., what are the gaps in the present research that these researchers wish to
fill?
3. What is the general research question of these researchers?
4. What is their specific hypothesis? I.e. what experiments did they set out to do?
5. In the literature review, what types of statements have citations following them, and
which do not seem to require citations?
6. As a practice with citations, below is a paragraph from a different paper. Based on the
answers you gave in questions 5 above, place a #1 at the end of the first statement that
requires a citation. Place a #2 at the end of the second statement that requires citation.
Place a #3 at the end of the third statement that requires citation, etc. Do this for each
instance. (1 mark for each correct citation)
Regeneration is a term used to describe the process by which a living organism
returns to its original form following damage or loss. The ability of an organism to
regenerate may be limited by the organisms complexity. Freshwater planarians
exhibit exceptional developmental plasticity that permits these simple triploblastic
metazoans to regenerate completely from tiny fragments. The process of
regeneration is based upon the proliferation and differentiation of undifferentiated,
totipotent stem-cells called neoblasts. Neoblasts migrate to the site of injury where
they differentiate into missing cell types.
7. Now, imagine that where you have placed #1 in the above paragraph, you wish
to cite the following paper:
article. Here, the journal Environmental and Experimental Botany has separate sections.
Therefore, you are asked to assess the contents of these sections separately.
Read the Results section of the paper assigned, and answer the following questions:
1. Explain the purpose of the Results section and what should be included here.
2. In this section, how are data presented?
3. Do you see the same data presented in both Tables and Figures?
4. Is it sufficient to present all results in either Tables or Figures, or do you need descriptive
text as well?
5. What is the purpose of the descriptive text in the Results section?
6. Are there any methodological statements (i.e. statements that explain how the experiment
was done) in the Results section?
7. When looking at Table 1 of this paper, how did the authors indicate p values 0.05? (a
statistical term used to denote statistically-significant results). Is this useful to the reader?
NOTE: For this next question, you only need to provide the letter beside each statement it is
referring to. (Each is worth mark).
8. Using Figure 1A and the letters a, b, c, ab as provided on the graph, indicate which
bar of the graph the authors are referring to in the first paragraph of the Results section
when they state:
i)
The high-light treatment increased A by 41% at the current Tsoil
ii)
but had no significant effect on A at the elevated Tsoil
iii)
In the low-light treatment, elevated Tsoil increased A by 18%
iv)
No significant effect of elevated Tsoil on A was found in the high-light treatment
v)
although A appears to have decreased
9. In question 8, what does A represent? ( mark)
10. In the second paragraph of the Results section, the authors state No interactions among
light, Tsoil, and [CO2] or between Tsoil were significant. (Table1) As a reader looking
at Table 1, how do you know this is true?
Discussion Section (1 point each unless otherwise indicated = 10 Points)
Read the Discussion Section of the paper assigned, and answer the following questions:
1. Explain the purpose of the Discussion section and what should be included here.
2. Are there any methodological statements (i.e. statements that explain how the experiment
was done) in the Discussion section?
3. What is the purpose of discussing other studies (and citing these other studies) in the
Discussion section?
4. In this paper, what do the authors conclude from their finding?
5. In the Introduction the authors had two hypotheses that they were testing. Were their
predictions correct for both? (2 marks)
6. As the authors state them, what were the limitations of their study?
7. What are the remaining unanswered questions indicated in this section?
4
When handing in your assignment be sure that your title page has all the required information by
completing the template cover sheet (next page) and stapling it to the front of your assignment.
(1 Point)
Title Page
Student Name
Student Number
Lab Section Number
Teaching Assistant
Produced by several students working as a team (this includes one person who provided any portion of an
assignment to another student or students)
Copied from any other source including textbooks and websites unless citations are properly acknowledged and
referenced.
NAME
_________________________________________
SIGNATURE
_________________________________________
DATE