Assignment: Membranes Alive!

For this assessment you will conduct a kitchen science experiment in which you study the movement of materials into and out of cells. Individual cells are generally too small to see; however, a chicken egg is actually a single cell. Please note that on the whole this lab will take you 3 days to complete. However, there is less than 1 hour of ‘hands-on’ work on the first and last days.

Use the Membrane Lab procedure for your experimental set up.

When complete, write a lab report in MLA format that includes the following sections.

  • Introduction
  • Hypotheses
  • Materials and Methods
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion
  • References

Use this example to give you an idea of how your experiment may look in progress, and to help with completing your lab report.

Basic Requirements (the assignment will not be accepted or assessed unless the follow criteria have been met):

  • Assignment has been proofread and does not contain any major spelling or grammatical errors
  • Assignment includes appropriate references
  • Assignment is formatted throughout using the MLA style.
  • Assignment includes all the identified components of a lab report (hypothesis, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusion). Images and tables are included where required and as appropriate.

Rubric

Membranes Alive!
Outcome: Describe and explain the structure and function of membranes
Criteria Ratings Pts
Introduction and conclusion sections discuss how a membrane is selectively permeable and how the experimental results demonstrate that. Introduction and conclusion sections address selectively permeable nature of membranes and experimental results in detail.
5.0 pts
Introduction and conclusion sections address selectively permeable nature of membranes and experimental results.
4.0 pts
Introduction and/or conclusion sections lack sufficient detail or do not connect to the experiment and results.
0.0 pts
5 pts
Discussion and conclusion section address the movement of the tested substances across the membrane. Movement of tested substances addressed correctly and in detail in both discussion and conclusion sections. Illustrations may be included.
5.0 pts
Movement of tested substances addressed correctly in both discussion and conclusion sections.
4.0 pts
Movement of tested substances not addressed correctly in both discussion and conclusion sections.
0.0 pts
5 pts
Proper terminology is used to demonstrate an understanding of transport mechanisms and how substances move across membranes in different types of solutions. Both direction and relative speed of transport is discussed. Terminology is used accurately and speed/direction are discussed correctly and in detail. Illustrations may be included.
5.0 pts
Terminology is used accurately and speed/direction are discussed correctly. Illustrations may be included.
4.0 pts
Terminology is used incorrectly; direction and/or speed are not correctly discussed.
0.0 pts
5 pts
Total points: 15