Carbohydrates Lab Reporting Worksheet

In science, reporting what has been done in a laboratory setting is incredibly important for communicating, replicating, and validating findings. However, writing scientific reports can be a little overwhelming. There is a set of agreed-upon components that the scientific community requires when reporting scientific experimentation. Answer the following questions to describe what occurred during the lab you conducted in Labster. Be sure to use complete sentences and descriptions that fully represent what you experienced. Writing a lab report is less about being correct or incorrect than it is about accurately reporting what happened and why. So, do not worry about reporting data that might seem counterintuitive or unexpected. Focus on clearly communicating what you did and what you observed.

TITLE:

What was the title of the lab you completed?

Carbohydrates Lab

PROBLEM:

What was the problem you were trying to resolve in the Lab?

The problem was to determine the presence of carbohydrates in various food samples.

HYPOTHESIS:

What information from the textbook and classroom is relevant for the problem you were trying to resolve in the lab? Identify the concepts and explain how they are related to the lab problem.

The relevant concepts from the textbook and classroom include the structure and function of carbohydrates, the types of carbohydrates (monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides), and the role of carbohydrates as a source of energy in living organisms. This knowledge is important for understanding the composition of different foods and how they contain carbohydrates.

During the lab, what information from the THEORY section provided additional background information about the problem? (To review the theory section, launch the lab and click the “Theory” tab at the top of the data pad). Identify the concepts and explain how they are related to the lab problem.

The theory section provided information about Benedict’s test and its application in detecting reducing sugars, such as monosaccharides and some disaccharides. It explained the principle behind the color change that occurs when reducing sugars react with Benedict’s reagent. This information is relevant to the lab problem as it helps identify the presence of carbohydrates in the food samples.

Most scientific experimentation involves examining variables and their relationships. A variable is a construct that can be changed and studied. Examples of variables are a condition or measurable quantity. What are the variables you examined in the lab? Which one were you controlling and changing? Which one were you observing was impacted by your change?

The variable examined in the lab was the presence of carbohydrates in different food samples. The controlled variable was Benedict’s reagent used for testing, and the observed variable was the color change that indicated the presence of reducing sugars.

Developing a hypothesis requires understanding relevant background knowledge. Now that you have described relevant background information, it is time to develop a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a simple statement (not a question), grounded in previous research, that predicts the relationship between the variables being studied. Please make a statement that predicts the relationship between the variables being studied.

If the food sample contains reducing sugars, then Benedict’s reagent will change color, indicating the presence of carbohydrates.

METHOD:

Describing what you did during a lab helps other scientists to replicate your work. It is through this consistent replication that scientists are able to see repeating patterns and develop ideas that help move science forward. When you discuss your data, in a later section, you will have to describe what choices you made, why you made them, and any concerns about things that occurred that were unexpected. In order to have enough information to do this, you need to keep very detailed notes. What doesn’t seem important in the moment may end up being something that explains your findings later. A benefit of conducting virtual labs when learning science is that many potential errors are controlled for you. The virtual lab environment often will alert you if something is not going the way it should. This does not occur in non-virtual settings. For this reason, the virtual lab setting can be very helpful to learners. However, we still have to practice documenting so that those skills can be practiced for lab experiences when technology is not there as a coach.

You have already, identify the variables that you studied in the lab in the previous section. Now, take some time to fully define and describe what each variable is and how it was changed throughout the lab.

In the lab, the variable examined was the presence of carbohydrates in different food samples. Carbohydrates are organic compounds that serve as a source of energy for living organisms. They consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms and can be found in various forms such as sugars, starches, and fibers.

The presence of carbohydrates in the food samples was changed by subjecting them to a specific testing procedure. The process involved adding Benedict’s reagent to the samples and heating them. Benedict’s reagent is a solution comprising copper sulfate, sodium carbonate, and sodium citrate. It is used to test for reducing sugars, which include monosaccharides (such as glucose and fructose) and some disaccharides (such as maltose and lactose).

By adding Benedict’s reagent and heating the food samples, we changed the environment and conditions in which the carbohydrates were present. The presence of reducing sugars in the samples caused a chemical reaction with Benedict’s reagent.

In 3-5 sentences, summarize what you did during the lab, not including your process of logging into the system. This section would be much more robust for a non-virtual lab. For this virtual lab, a short, high-level summary will suffice.

The first step was collecting various food samples, including fruits, bread, and potatoes. Next, I prepared a control sample of distilled water. I then added each food sample and the control sample to separate test tubes. After that, the next step was adding Benedict’s reagent to each test tube and then heating the test tubes in a water bath for a specific duration. After that I observed the color change in the test tubes.

Describe some of the observations you made. What numbers did you write down or keep track of? What did each of your senses observe during the lab process? What did you see (ex: changes in colors, movement, shapes, sizes, patterns)? What did you hear (ex: sounds from reactions, collisions, error messages)? What did your lab character touch? Did you notice anything that seemed unexpected? Did you notice anything that you did not expect to observe?

During the lab, I recorded the color changes observed in the test tubes after heating them. I also noted the appearance and consistency of the food samples before and after the test. Additionally, I observed the effervescence or bubbling that occurred during the heating process. Some color changes were expected, while others were unexpected based on the composition of the food samples.

Which parts of the lab required you to think more than others and required more time? Which parts were simple and completed easily?

The part of the lab that required more thinking and time was analyzing the color changes in the test tubes and interpreting the results. It involved comparing the observed colors to the color chart provided and determining the presence or absence of carbohydrates. The process of heating the samples and waiting for the color changes was relatively simple and completed easily.

DATA & RESULTS:

Many lessons learned as a result of scientific experiments come from the reporting and analysis of data. This part of scientific reporting requires detailed descriptions of technical information and quantities as well as high-level synthesis of information. High-level synthesis requires a mastery of foundational content in the related scientific field and a complimentary mastery in some fields of quantitative and/or qualitative analysis. For this report, let’s focus on big-picture patterns.

What relationships did you notice between the variables you examined? When you changed the variable(s), how did the other(s) change?

I noticed that when the variable of the food sample containing reducing sugars was changed, the color of the solution changed in the test tube. The more reducing sugars present in the food sample, the stronger the color change observed. The control sample containing only distilled water showed no significant color change.

Did you notice any patterns in your data? Any patterns between the variables?

In the data collected, I observed a pattern where foods rich in carbohydrates, such as fruits and bread, showed a stronger color change, indicating a higher concentration of reducing sugars. Foods with lower carbohydrate content, such as potatoes, showed a milder color change. This pattern suggested that the intensity of the color change was related to the amount of reducing sugars present in the food samples.

DISCUSSION:

The discussion section is used to explain why things might have happened the way that they did in your experiment. Here, scientists describe any potential anomalies or mistakes and why they think they may have occurred.

During your lab, what happened that might have impacted the accuracy of your data? Did the simulation alert you that an error was occurring? If so, how did you resolve it?

During the lab, no specific factors impacted the accuracy of the data. The simulation did not alert me about any errors, and the process of conducting Benedict’s test was straightforward. However, it is important to note that the virtual lab environment may have controlled for potential errors that could occur in a non-virtual setting.

CONCLUSION:

The conclusion section of a lab report describes how the learnings from the lab experimentation fit in to prior scientific knowledge. This is done by comparing new information to previously known information that was identified in the section of your report that discusses background information.

Review the hypothesis section of your report from above and describe how the results of your lab compare to the background information that you discussed before.

The results of the lab supported the background information discussed earlier. The hypothesis that if the food sample contains reducing sugars, then Benedict’s reagent will change color, indicating the presence of carbohydrates, was confirmed. The color changes observed in the test tubes provided evidence of the presence or absence of carbohydrates in the food samples.

Once scientists have identified how the new knowledge fits into the old knowledge, they discuss the implications of the new information for moving forward. In this class, the purpose of the study is to learn some foundational science ideas represented by the course student learning outcomes. Review the course student learning outcome aligned with this lab in the assignment directions on Blackboard. How is the information from this lab related to the course student learning outcome? What knowledge has the lab supported you with learning that is related to this course’s student learning outcome?

The information from this lab is related to the course student learning outcome of understanding the structure and function of carbohydrates. The lab helped me learn how to detect the presence of carbohydrates using Benedict’s test and how different food samples can vary in their carbohydrate content.

Following scientific experimentation, scientists usually come up with new questions that result from what they learned. These new questions often end up leading to new experiments in the future. What additional scientific things do you wonder about after completing and writing about your lab experience?

What are the specific types of sugars, such as glucose, fructose, or sucrose, present in the food samples analyzed in the lab?

How does cooking or processing impact the carbohydrate content of foods, and does it affect their nutritional value?

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Assignment Content

Often painted as a dietary villain, carbohydrates have suffered expulsion by weight-loss propaganda. The final step for this assessment is to complete the lab report.

As you work through the lab, compile the pieces of your report. To make the experience more interesting, complete the Hypothesis section prior to diving into the lab.

When you are satisfied with your work in the lab, please complete and submit your lab report.