Lab #9: Working With Excel; Results and Figures

10/18/18

Haiden Jordal

Objective:

Utilize excel spreadsheet and data gathering programs to procure figures that are accurately detailed and easily read for both of the cell count data and the optical density data with our group members. Discuss which charts make for the best figures and explore how to create error bars.

Procedure:

1. Obtain the descriptive data statistics that were procured in lab last week.
2. Use the means of the two sets of data to create a figure that shows the difference in means.
3. Highlight both means and choose the recommended chart option.
4. Discuss the recommended options with group members to determine the best choice to represent our data.
5. Once a chart is chosen, label the chart with a descriptive title: Tetrahymena Control vs Treatment Cell Count Means.”
6. Label the bars as control and treatment.
7. Start the same process for the optical density data.
8. To find the correct treatment data for the optical density analyzation, subtract the “ppt and twine only” column data from the treatment column data to obtain the final treatment data.
9. Repeat the chart steps.
10. This time, to find the standard error, use the same descriptive statistics data and highlight both sets of standard error numbers.
11. Use those numbers in creating standard error bars that show the range distribution of data.
12. Do the same thing for the individual behavioral assay.
13. An asterisk placed on the graph represents a statistical difference between the two means of the variable sets.

Data/Observations:

Storage:

No Storage due to no wet lab; Just log off computer when done.

Conclusion and Future Steps:

Practicing the task of creating meaningful and descriptive data figures is an important one to learn for including pertinent information in our lab reports. Figures can go alongside the results section in the lab report and as an aspiring scientist we must all be capable of sharing our data in a concise and understandable way if we want our findings to be understood and information to be taken seriously. The data figures we produced today display a statistical difference in means between all three experimental observations. In the cell count figure, the treatment cell count proved to be significantly higher than the control. This trend was seen in the other figures as well. At the end of lab we combined our individual assay figures into a single powerpoint that will be presented to the class during next lab. All groups will present their own figures and we will discuss the final results of the lab to determine what we all can conclude from our findings.