Ecosystems and Biodiversity

Portfolio of Lab Reports
The portfolio should include the following parts:
Lab Report (part A)
You should write a lab report either on the activity Mediterranean Ecosystems: Plant Communities or on the activity Measuring Soil Properties: Nutrients and pH. To prepare your lab report please read the General Instructions of Lab Session 1, also included in the appendix, as well as the instructions at the end of the specific lab manuals. IMPORTANT: The activity you choose for your main lab report (Part A) will be excluded from the short lab submissions (Part B).
Short Lab Submissions (part B)
Any 5 from the following 8 assignments are requested:
Lab Submission 1: Ecological and Water Footprints: should include
• How much is your footprint? (Here you may include the scoring – number and the graph produced at the end). You may express your footprint a) in Earth equivalents and b) in global hectares.
• Which activities of yours contribute the most to your footprint?
• A critical reflection on what you could do to reduce your footprint.
• Based in exercise c, does Greece have an ecological deficit or an ecological reserve? Compare it with two other countries of your choice and explain what this means for the particular countries.

Lab Submission 2: Food Webs: should include
• Draw your food web (using arrows to show how energy and matter pass from one trophic level to the next) and fill in the table below.
• Identify Trophic levels
Trophic Level Species found in each trophic level

• Identify the top predator in the food webs examined in the lab and explain the consequences if the top predator/s were removed from each ecosystem (impact of extinction).
• Explain how energy flows through the trophic levels of a food chain using a diagram.

Lab Submission 4: Introduction to Cartography: should include
• In your opinion, what types of ethical issues do current technological advances in cartography (ex: web mapping, satellite imagery) pose for decision making?
• Include scan or high-resolution photograph of the topographic profile completed by you and your colleagues. Which part(s) of the profile is currently experiencing erosion, and which might be prone to flooding? Can you think of some solutions to those issues?
• As climate change and global warming unfold, what are some of the challenges that the study area will be faced with by year 2050?

Lab Submission 5: Climate and Terrestrial Biomes: should include
• For the sets of coordinates that were given to you by your instructor, complete the table of the third part and, using information from the internet, documentaries and your textbook, describe the types of plants and animals that are characteristic of each of the two biomes, their adaptations to the climate as well as relationships among them (predator-prey, competitive, mutualistic). Include photos from the biomes of the particular areas. Do not forget to cite the sources of your information.
• Discuss where else on Earth such biomes can be found. Reflect on the human impact on these biomes.

Lab Submission 6: Mediterranean Ecosystems: Plant Communities (only in case you do not write a lab report-part A on it) should include
• A brief description of the location that you studied. Include a photo.
• A list of the plants that you observed, along with the information requested above for each plant. Include photos.

Lab Submission 8: Demographics: should include
Using the following sites, each student should choose two countries and study the country population profile (one more developed and one less developed).
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/world-population-pyramid (Interactive Age Structures/Country, 1950-2050)
http://populationpyramid.net/world/1995/ (World Population 1950 – 2100)
Then you will have to respond to the following questions:
• Question 1
Based on http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/world-population-pyramid you should outline and explain the changes in the population distributions for years 1950 – 2020 in the selected countries as well as projections for 2050.
• Question 2
Based on http://populationpyramid.net/world/1995/ you should outline and explain the projected changes in the population distributions for 2100 for the selected countries
• Question 3
Based on http://populationpyramid.net/world/1995/ you should comment on the projected age-sex distributions for 2100 for Western Europe, Africa, Asia, the World Average.

Lab Submission 9: Saving Biodiversity: should include
• Question 1
Outline the main points of two selected cases/videos (as indicated during the lab session per group). All links to the case studies (videos and articles) are included above (in the lab manual).
• Question 2
Play with the Fish-forward Campaign (https://www.fishforward.eu/en/) and outline ways/measures to eliminate overfishing in the Mediterranean and become responsible consumers. To respond you may use reports and other sources uploaded on Blackboard.

Lab Submission 10: Soil Properties (only in case you do not write a lab report-part A on it) : should include
• A brief summary of the results of the soil analysis you conducted (could be in form of a table).
• An interpretation and critical discussion of the results of the soil analysis, stressing the importance of pH and of the nutrients you measured.

 
APPENDIX: GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS for PORTFOLIO of LAB REPORTS
Text taken from General Instructions of the manual of Lab Session 1:
LAB COMPONENT ASSESSMENT
The Lab component of the course (1 out of 4 credits of the course) is assessed through Lab Reports (see course syllabus). Each student has to submit a portfolio of Lab Reports that account together for the 25% of the course grade. Even though students work in groups during the labs, lab reports are not a group assessment and each student should make an individual submission.
The portfolio of lab reports consists of the following:

1. PART A on a selected lab activity: A Report on a specific topic selected by the instructor. PART A follows the outline of typical Reporting, as demonstrated in the instructions manual. The topic of this report may integrate knowledge from different chapters. (15%)
2. PART B – Short Reports on different lab activities: A compilation of submissions on different lab activities. The submissions will be in the form of data, responses to questions, graphs etc. The students have to compile all submissions into 1 document. (5 submissions x 2% = 10%)

Lab report on a selected lab activity (PART A)
Each student of a laboratory group should prepare one lab report (PART A) on a specific lab activity/topic indicated by the instructor. This lab report will follow the outline of typical lab reports and it will be formed as follow:
• Cover Page:
ALWAYS include a title in the Cover Page. In our lab activities, the title is given. (In case it is not given, make sure, your title is brief, concise, yet descriptive.) Also include your name.
• Introduction:
In this section, you provide useful background information about the topic and purpose of the lab activity, as well as the main question(s) you are trying to address. Relate the topic to material discussed in class (theory from the lectures) or in a chapter section of your textbook. You may also provide additional reference sources. Do not copy the introduction provided in the lab manual. One to two paragraphs is usually enough. Please include the purpose of the activity in the introduction.
• Materials and Procedure:
In this part, you should describe place and date of the lab activity and make a list of ALL items (material and equipment) used in the lab. These are usually listed in your lab instructions. You should also explain the procedure followed in the lab activity (give a step-by-step description), in full sentences and as clearly as possible and with the detail needed. Your procedure should be written so that any reader could repeat the experiment. Do not use imperative voice when describing the procedure.
• Data– Results:
This section should include your observations / measurements, any data tables, graphs, drawings, or additional notes you make during the lab. (You may attach a separate sheet(s) if necessary). All tables, graphs and charts should be labelled appropriately (with legends, measurement units, etc.). No analysis or discussion on the results should be included here.
• Discussion:
In the discussion, you answer the question: “What do the results show?” Interpret the data you collected and the graphs / tables you made and describe any findings and trends related to the subject of the lab activity. It is good to include a summary of the data – averages, highest, lowest etc – to help the reader understand your results. Point out unexpected results, relate the results to your original hypothesis (if you made one) and discuss significance of results and how this experiment was useful.
Please ensure that your analysis does not exhibit logical leaps or inconsistencies between your conclusions and the data/results. Your analysis should aim to be insightful and demonstrate good understanding of the subject / purpose of the lab activity. You should use concepts and material from our textbook (and other reference sources) in your discussion.
The lab manuals provided for every lab activity include instructions and questions that aim to help you organize and write the discussion part of the lab report. Thus, you should ensure to address them in this section in a clear and insightful way, using references from the book and other sources where appropriate.
• Conclusion:
In the conclusion, you should list what you learned in this lab activity, so it should be connected with the purpose of it. Here, you may / should discuss possible errors that could have occurred in the collection of your data (experimental errors), or biases built in the design of the lab activity which might have influenced your analysis and conclusions. The conclusion should be brief; one paragraph would be enough.
• References – Bibliography
In this last part of your lab report, you should include an alphabetized list of literature that you used to help conduct, analyze and discuss your experiment and answer related questions. All sources that you used (books, articles, websites, etc.) must be cited in the text. Do not list sources that have not been cited in the text and list all the sources that you have cited.
Always use your own words when using information from external sources. Please remember that the copy-paste technique is NEVER acceptable! If you find a special part of a source very useful and you want to include it verbatim in your report, you put it in quotes and then you include that source in your reference section. A quoted text should not exceed 10 lines approximately.
Short reports on different lab activities (PART B)
Each student will prepare one report (PART B), which will form a compilation of submissions based on 5 lab activities. Each lab activity is linked to a submission in the form of question/s, graphs/data, short presentation etc. In Lab Report 2, students collect the 5 submissions indicated by the instructor. The outline of Lab Report 2 should be as follows:
• Cover page:
Indicating the title of the lab report and student’s name

• Submissions
• Submission 1: Title of submission
Question/s:
Responses:

• Submission 2: Title of submission
Question/s:
Responses:

• Submission 3: Title of submission
Question/s:
Responses:

• Submission 4: Title of submission
Question/s:
Responses:

• Submission 5: Title of submission
Question/s:
Responses:

• Conclusion (OPTIONAL)
Include a reflection on the Lab Component of the course and on the lessons learnt either assessing the overall processes or on each of the activities you conducted (what you gained from it in matters of knowledge, experience, exposure to lab and field work).