wrong 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

right 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13

score 100 96.8 93.5 90.3 87.1 83.9 80.6 77.4 74.2 71 67.7 64.5 61.3 58.1 54.8 51.6 48.4 45.2 41.9

Seed Germination Name________________________________

This exercise is going to be your focus for the laboratory report this semester. So this project will involve setting up
an experiment with a counted number of seeds, observing the number of seeds which sprout in the experiment,
statistically analyzing the class results, and reporting the results in the format of a standard laboratory report. In
addition to the materials provided in class, you will need to use the departmental style manual (Pechenik, J. A.
2004. A short guide to writing about biology. 5th ed. Addison Wesley-Longman Press.) for writing your laboratory
report.

The effect of light on seed germination

A. Observation. Seeds of some species germinate in the light but do not do so well in the dark.
The pigment phytochrome has two forms, Pr and Pfr, which absorb red and far-red light,
respectively. Perhaps this pigment helps seeds detect the light.
B. Question. Do species requiring light to germinate use the phytochrome pigment to determine
if they are in the light or darkness?
C. Hypothesis. Light-sensitive seeds do use the phytochrome pigment.
D. Prediction. If the hypothesis is true, then lettuce seeds placed in red light will germinate
much better than seeds placed in darkness or far-red light. Moreover, seeds in far-red light
should be particularly inhibited.
E. Experiment. Obtain four Petri Dishes from the supply and put one disc of filter paper in the
bottom of each dish. Label the dish covers (and bottoms!) with the marking pen. The labels
should include: White Light Red Light Far-red light Dark Control
Put 5 mL of distilled water in each dish, and obtain a square of aluminum foil so that you
are ready to wrap the “dark” dish immediately. BE READY!
With your partner, carefully count out three groups of 50 lettuce (Lactuca sativa ‘Tango’)
seeds. Of course the counts must be accurate, but WORK QUICKLY! Place one group of 50
seeds into each dish on top of the moist paper.
IMMEDIATELY wrap the "dark" dish in aluminum foil so that it is completely
enshrouded. Place the "red light" dish under red filter with fluorescent lighting. Place the
"far-red light" and the “dark control” dishes under red and blue filter with incandescent
lighting.
After four days and eight days, count out the number of seeds germinating and calculate
the percent germination. After four days, add 2 mL dH2O and move all the dishes of seeds
into white light.
After Seven Days
After Four Days (~ 3 days in white light)
Total Germination Newly Total Germination
Treatment
Germinated (% of 50) Germinated Germinated (% of 50)
White light % %
Red light % %
Far-red light % %
Document © Ross E. Koning 1994. Permission granted for non-commercial instruction.
Koning, Ross E. 1994. Seed Germination. Plant Information Website.
http://plantphys.info/organismal/labdoc/LabReportProject.doc
 Page 2

Darkness % %

/20
 Page 3

F. Analysis. The most seeds germinated in four days of:

The fewest seeds germinated in four days of:

The germination-simulating form of phytochrome is:

G. Decision. The hypothesis: “Light-sensitive seeds do use the phytochrome pigment”
is:

Questions to Consider for your Discussion Section

Defend the statement: "Lettuce seeds need light to germinate" using the data you obtained in
laboratory.
Lettuce seeds do need light to germinate, because germination of seeds was
in the dark than in white light. Moreover, after three days of darkness, the
ungerminated seeds were exposed to white light and
germinated.
Condemn the statement: "Lettuce seeds need light to germinate" using the data you obtained in
laboratory.
Lettuce seeds do not need light to germinate, because germination of seeds in the
darkness was more than .
Explain how you can tell whether far-red light had any effect.
Seed germination after four days in far-red light was than in the control seeds, which

were in white light red light darkness .

The failure of a seed to sprout could be due to the fact that its germination is indeed inhibited.
But there is also a second possibility: perhaps the treatment does not inhibit seed germination
directly, but simply kills the embryo. Such a situation would certainly not produce many
germinating seeds either. In this exercise you exposed the seeds treated with far-red light to
white light for an additional time and observed germination again. Present arguments for both
possibilities.
Far-red light inhibits germination.
My evidence is that germination after white light exposure was...

_____________________________________________________________
Far-red light kills the embryo.
My evidence is that germination after white light exposure was...

_____________________________________________________________

/11
 Page 4

Organizing Your Lab Report

I have decided that you will write your lab report based upon your work with seed
germination of lettuce, Lactuca sativa. Your report should clearly present each experiment under
subheadings in the methods section. The results and discussion should probably also be divided
into subheadings. Be sure you have clearly addressed the important question through hypothesis
testing. You want to demonstrate how the experiment led you to your decision on the hypothesis.
You must present the evidence you have gathered in support of the hypothesis as well as any
doubt you have in making your decisions. Do not feel that you must slavishly stick to the
sequence of work you carried out; perhaps another order would better tell the story of how you
arrived at your conclusions. It is better to think about the different situations you observed and
decide which combine to make an experiment!
Your laboratory report is to be written in the format of a scientific publication such as those
in the American Journal of Botany or Plant Physiology. These articles are divided into major
sections to aid the reader and author. Typical headings and brief comments are given below, but
are no substitute for your reading and following of the departmental style manual (Pechenik, J.
A. 2004. A short guide to writing about biology. 5th ed. Addison Wesley Longman Publisher)
already in your personal library.

TITLE: Should be concise and informative. It should indicate 1) the factor(s) which were
manipulated, 2) the parameters measured, and 3) the scientific name of the organism
used. “Seed Germination” or “Sprouting Lettuce” would be likely too vague.

ABSTRACT: Describes the entire report in one concise paragraph. It is a very brief presentation
of the major findings with just enough explanation of what was done to permit them to
have meaning. One sentence introduces the subject, another names the materials and
methods used, two or three more present the major results, and the last sentences discuss
the major inferences(s) of the findings. Biological abstracts have been collected in the
publication, Biological Abstracts, where you may find many examples to help you. Of
course the journals mentioned above have an example in each article as well.

INTRODUCTION: This section acquaints the reader with the setting of your paper. It consists of
1) an introduction of the topic of the paper, 2) a presentation of the history of the topic
(what is known about the subject and particularly the expected effects of the
manipulations you observed), and 3) a purpose statement for your work. Thus it puts the
reader in the right frame of mind to appreciate your findings and discussion. It should be
brief, perhaps one to two pages long. But this is where your journal articles are first cited!
Please remember, we paraphrase rather than quote and use (Author, date) as the style.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This states clearly, precisely, and comprehensively the 1)
materials (plants and equipment) used, 2) treatments and procedures followed, and 3)
types and nature of the measurements made and statistical testing analyzed. Sufficient
detail should be presented to allow another scientist to repeat the exercise. On the other
hand, it should NOT give directions, but should tell what YOU did (use past tense). You
should not give details for common procedures (sequence of steps, labeling dishes, etc.);
 Page 5

you may assume your reader knows these. Since your procedures are already in print
(here in the manual) you may cite the lab manual for direction details, and only
summarize the major steps. You should indicate any deviations in the technique or
materials that you used from those in the manual.

RESULTS: There must be a written text in which you present the salient findings as precisely as
possible. It is usually divided into subsections, each detailing a single facet of the work.
Most illustrations, graphs, and tables are included in this section (see below). The text is
FACTUAL and is NOT the place for interpretation or discussion. The text should not be
a verbal math exercise to put the data from the figures presented nearby!
Raw data tables should NOT be presented in the results section of the report.
After you have collected the data, examine them carefully, and decide on a way to
present the important information in the most meaningful manner. In some reports, tables
or graphs may be best; in others, drawings of the appearance of the subject before and
after the experiment may be appropriate. Remember that all changes in experimental
plants should be considered in relation to any changes that occurred in control plants
during the same experimental period. Your tables and figures should be numbered
separately but also sequentially. They need a caption with the number, title, and
necessary clarifications. You need to get rid of a lot of Excel-isms to make its graphics
acceptable! You need to be very careful in selection of a graph type!

DISCUSSION: This section is the body of the paper and here you 1) interpret your own results
(Fig 1), 2) relate your results and interpretations to those of other workers in the field and
to the existing body of knowledge (Author, Date), and 3) make conclusions based upon
your results and the existing body of knowledge. You should relate structure to function
and discuss what your findings mean in terms of whole plants.

LITERATURE CITED: Alphabetized references are limited to those ACTUALLY CITED in the
manuscript. In your report, these may include your lab manual and a biological textbook,
but the mark of an outstanding paper from a freshman would include reference to a
relevant article published in some journal.

Use the form below for your book citations:

Solomon, E. P, L. R. Berg, and D. W. Martin. 2002. Biology. 6th ed. Thompson
Learning, Inc.

Use this form for your lab project citation:

Koning, R. E. 1994. Seed Germination. Plant Physiology Information Website.
http://plantphys.info/organismal/labdoc/Lab Report Project.doc. (02-23-2007)

Journal articles should be listed using the form below:

Author, S.R., and J.R. Author. 2005. Title of article here with no underlining and
repressed capitals. Amer. J. Bot. 98: 123-456.
 Page 6

Statistical Analysis of Percent Germination in Experiments

In addition to learning how to write a laboratory report, we will also be learning how to carry out
a Z-test for the difference in two proportions in Excel™. We will create a spreadsheet that will
compare the percent germination of seeds in a treatment to its corresponding control. By saving
the resulting file, it can be used in the future to compare any lab experiments that generate
percentage or proportion data. Apply this analysis to your project and include it in your report!
Setting up the areas on the spreadsheet:
In A1, type: Z Test for the Difference in Two Proportions
In A3, type: Data –and make it bold
In A4, type: Hypothesized Difference
In A5, type: Chosen level of α -select a and select Symbol from formatting palette
In A6, type: Control –and make it bold
In A7 type: Seeds Germinated
In A8 type: Total Sample Size
In A9 type: Treatment –and make it bold
In A10 type: Seeds Germinated
In A11 type: Total Sample Size
In A13 type: Intermediate Calculations –and make it bold
In A14 type: Control Germination
In A15 type: Treatment Germination
In A16 type: Difference in Proportions
In A17 type: Average Proportion
In A18 type: Z-Test Statistic – and make it bold
In A20 type: Two-Tailed Test – and make it bold
In A21 type: Lower Critical Value
In A22 type: Upper Critical Value
In A23 type: p-value –and make it bold – double-click column separator
Inserting the formulas into the spreadsheet:
In B4 type: 0
In B5 type: 0.05
In B7 type the number of seeds germinating in your control
In B8 type the number of seeds sown in the control = 50
In B10 type the number of seeds germinating in your treatment
In B11 type the number of seeds sown in the treatment = 50
In B14 type: =B7/B8
In B15 type: =B10/B11
In B16 type: =B14-B15
In B17 type: =(B7+B10)/(B8+B11)
In B18 type: =(B16-B4)/SQRT(B17*(1-B17)*(1/B8+1/B11))
In B21 type: =NORMSINV(B5/2)
In B22 type: =NORMSINV(1-B5/2)
In B23 type: =2*(1-NORMSDIST(ABS(B18)))
In A24 type: =IF(B23<$B$5,"Reject the null hypothesis","Do not reject the null
hypothesis")
 Page 7

In A25 type: =IF(B23<$B$5,"Treatment Effective","Treatment Ineffective")

Save your spreadsheet for repeated use…enter data in B7 and B10 for any similar experiment
wrong 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Right 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20

Score 100 97.4 94.7 92.1 89.5 86.8 84.2 81.6 78.9 76.3 73.7 71.1 68.4 65.8 63.2 60.5 57.9 55.3 52.6

Name________________________________

Testing Hypotheses on Germination of Lactuca sativa ‘Tango’ seeds

Transfering your raw data
From page 1 of your Seed Germination worksheet, transfer your data here (note: do NOT put %
calculated results here…just the raw data of number germinated!):
Total germinated in 7
Total germinated days (including after 4-
after 3-days of days of followup white
Initial treatment initial treatment exposure)
white light ___ ___ of 50 ___ ___ of 50
red light ___ ___ of 50 ___ ___ of 50
far-red light ___ ___ of 50 ___ ___ of 50
darkness ___ ___ of 50 ___ ___ of 50

Using your Z-test spreadsheet

Use the data after three days of treatment to compare the dark control with:
Decision on Treatment effect on
Treatment Z-test p-value null hypothesis seed germination
white light .
__ __ __ __ reject cannot reject stimulates ineffective inhibits

red light __ . __ __ __ reject cannot reject stimulates ineffective inhibits

far-red light __ . __ __ __ reject cannot reject stimulates ineffective inhibits

Use the data to compare the initial results (control) with the results after white-followup:
Initial Decision on Followup effect on
Treatment Z-test p-value null hypothesis seed germination
white light .
__ __ __ __ reject cannot reject stimulates ineffective inhibits

red light __ . __ __ __ reject cannot reject stimulates ineffective inhibits

far-red light __ . __ __ __ reject cannot reject stimulates ineffective inhibits

darkness __ . __ __ __ reject cannot reject stimulates ineffective inhibits

Use the data after seven days (after 4-days of white light followup exposure) to compare the
initial dark control group with those initially treated with:
Initial Decision on Initial treatment effect on
treatment Z-test p-value null hypothesis final seed germination
 Page 8

white light .
__ __ __ __ reject cannot reject stimulates ineffective inhibits

red light __ . __ __ __ reject cannot reject stimulates ineffective inhibits

far-red light __ . __ __ __ reject cannot reject stimulates ineffective inhibits