Inquiry Figure Assignment

For this assignment, you will take a scientific journal article and write a summary of one of the main questions and experiments in it for a first year biology textbook. It might be useful to think of this as telling the story of the experiment to your classmates. You don’t need as many details as you will find in the article. You also need to make sure the science and language you use in your assignment is understandable to the average first year biology student.

I have uploaded the article that will be used and 2 examples of the assignment. The final product does not need to be formatted in a column but will look like the file titled “InquiryFigureExampleSpring2018 “.

Format
Maximum Length: 2 pages total (12 pt font, 1.5 spacing, 2.5 cm margins)

Formatting: Your assignment does NOT need to have the same layout as the Inquiry boxes in the textbook (i.e., it is not necessary to use columns, colours etc.).

Headings: Your assignment should be organized with the following headings.

Title
This should be a short, concise, and well-worded research question.
Tip: Research papers dont always state the question they are investigating clearly. Your paper might also include answers for many smaller questions. Start by identifying one interesting result or conclusion, and then work your way backwards to infer the question.

Experiment or Field Study
Briefly summarize the purpose and methods of the experiment or field study, and include the name of the researcher(s) who conducted the research. This section should provide just enough information so that your reader can understand the results section. Make sure you describe what the researchers did to set up the study, and what they were measuring or looking for.
Tip: Focus on the methods from a big picture perspective. Dont get bogged down by details. Include figures only if they help the reader to understand the experiment.

Result
Describe what the researchers observed in their experiment. Summarize the results in 1-4 sentences. Include figures if they would help the reader to make sense of the results.

Figures (Optional)
Pictures can be a valuable and efficient way of presenting information, especially for the experimental design or results sections. For this assignment, you may copy and paste figures (e.g. graphs) directly from your source paper. If you include a photo (or figure) that you found somewhere other than your source paper, you must provide a reference for it. For each figure, add your own labels and/or your own brief caption (a short sentence) to help your reader make sense of it.
Tip: If you choose to include a graph from the paper, make sure you understand it, and that your reader will be able to understand it as well.

Conclusion
State the conclusions of the experiment in 1-4 sentences. You may also choose to explain the significance of the results. In other words why are the conclusions important to science?
Tip: Think of your conclusion as the answer to the research question.

Source
Provide a citation for the paper in which you found the experiment. If you used a figure from somewhere other than your source paper, provide a citation for this source as well. For more examples of source formatting look here.
Format:
First and middle author initial then author last name (repeated for multiple authors), article title, journal title (italicized) volume number: page numbers (date).

Example (this is made up)
E. Barley, and K. Lam, Students achieve top marks by following assignment instructions, Journal of Good Advice 22: 71-81 (2015).

What If?
Ask an interesting question that relates to the research youve just summarized. This question should test the readers understanding of the concept underlying the experiment.
Tip: The What If is not something found in the paper, but should be your own original question. A strong What If might ask about experimental design, or ask the reader to apply related concepts to a new situation.

Justification
Write a paragraph that explains why you think your Inquiry Figure would make a good contribution to a first year biology textbook. In other words, why would your Inquiry Figure be interesting to a first year student? How does it relate to fundamental biological concepts? (maximum 150 -200 words)

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