Transcript Abstract Writing - Riverside Rebel Science

Writing a Lab Abstract
What’s the point?
It is used in science
A Summary of Fifteen Years of Breeding Bird Survey Data at Apostle Islands
National Lakeshore
Peggy Burkman*, National Park Service, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore,
Route 1, Box 4, Bayfield, WI 54814 ([email protected]) Apostle Islands
National Lakeshore, located in northwestern Wisconsin, includes 21 islands and
a mainland unit. The islands range in size from 1 to 4,000 ha (3 to 10,000
acres). The park contains a diverse mosaic of habitats that are important for
nesting resident birds as well as neotropical migrants. Apostle Islands NL
established a long-term breeding bird survey in 1990 to gain a better
understanding of the importance of the archipelago to breeding birds and to
identify important nesting habitats. Surveys are conducted annually along 10
transects on seven islands and the mainland unit. Point locations have been
permanently marked and are stratified by habitat type. This paper will present
the results of 15 years of monitoring. Comparisons will be made between
islands, habitats and years. In addition, trends recorded in the Lakeshore will be
compared with state and region-wide trends.
What is an Abstract?
A abstract is a brief summary of a scientific paper, generally stating:
• An introductory statement of the purpose for the lab
• A couple sentences of a brief description of the methods used.
• May include your predictions/ expectations
• A few sentences that state and interpret the results
• A brief thoughtful conclusion
Why is an abstract used?
• Allows the reader to easily understand a science paper
• Allow you as the writer to express a long lab briefly
Example-from a science fair
Advertisers are always touting more powerful and
longer lasting batteries, but which batteries really do
last longer, and is battery life impacted by the speed of
the current drain? This projects looks at which AA
battery maintains its voltage for the longest period of
time in low, medium, and high current drain devices.
The batteries were tested in a CD player (low drain
device), a flashlight (medium drain device), and a
camera flash (high drain device) by measuring the
battery voltage (dependent variable) at different time
intervals (independent variable) for each of the battery
types in each of the devices. My hypothesis was that
Energizer would last the longest in all of the devices
tested. The experimental results supported my
hypothesis by showing that the Energizer performs with
increasing superiority, the higher the current drain of
the device. The experiment also showed that the heavyduty non-alkaline batteries do not maintain their
voltage as long as either alkaline battery at any level of
current drain.
Example-from Class
In a class lab I measured the effect that positioning my body
in different postures and stress levels had on my blood pressure.
Blood pressure (BP) is the measure of the force blood exerts on
the walls of the arteries as a result of contractions by the heart. A
sphygmomanometer was used to measure BP as I sat, stood, laid
down and walked stairs. I expected that more relaxing postures
would reduce my BP while stressful activities would increase my
BP. Results from the lab showed that relaxing postures, such as
sitting and lying down, lowered BP a little. However, stressful
activities, such as walking stairs, had a more significant effect on
BP. This was most evident was in my systolic pressure which
increased from 110 mm Hg to 145 mm Hg. This lab demonstrates
that stress has the most significant effect on BP.