4. Preparing for Lab Session 2 of the Response to Stimuli lab

Note: this is the same activity you did for preparing for Fern Gametophytes at Varying Densities “Preparing for Lab Session 2” – return to that section for a reminder as needed.

As part of your research, it will be useful to locate a few scientific articles that relate to the experiment you are doing. As such, before you come to Lab Session 2, please find one peer-reviewed research article per teammate. It is advisable to coordinate with your team to ensure you aren’t getting the same article. Some tips:

• Do not limit your search to only the species you are looking at – search for the genus and if still no results, try the order.
• If you require assistance, please contact your lab instructor and/or the reference librarians – this means starting early!

1) Search terms and combinations – Use the same strategies you used in previous labs to find articles that are relevant to your experiment. Once you have key terms and synonyms listed, identify some search combinations using Boolean operators (e.g., AND, OR, etc). Try some combinations in Biosis – is the search too broad? Are the articles relevant? Remember to read through the abstract to determine relevance.

2) Select a relevant article and read it. While you are reading the relevant article, provide point-form answers to the following questions in your lab notebook – be sure to paraphrase rather than copy:

• • What is the research question?
  • What is the model organism (i.e., species)?
  • In 1-2 sentences how did they carry out the experiment?
  • What are the major findings and conclusion from the study?
  • Why is this source relevant to your research project?