Research Plan for Seneca Lake (Due: 10/29/15)

We will be visiting Seneca Lake on Thursday, 11/5.  Aboard the William Shandling research vessel, we will collect samples from 3 locations (1 deep, 1 shallow, and 1 medium depth location).  Create a blog post that accomplishes the following:

• Identify a focused problem/research question that you would like to answer regarding Seneca Lake.
• Identify the controlled variables (as far as they can be controlled), the independent variable (hint: I wrote it above), and the relevant variable(s) you will need to measure in order to answer your research question.
• Write a paragraph that summarizes the relevant background information to set a "context" for your research problem/question.  Include in-text citations and a bibliography for at least 3 sources that you used to develop your background information.
• State a hypothesis for what you expect to find in regards to your problem/research question.  Justify your hypothesis with references to your background information.
• List and describe the methods you plan to use to control variables (i.e. think about the things you will want to keep constant for each sample location, and state how you intend to limit variability between location).
• Outline the procedures (with numbered steps) for how you plan to collect the data needed to address your research question/problem.  Focus on repeatability (could someone exactly repeat your steps based only on your outlined procedure).  Definitely use the Science on Seneca Manual to guide this section of the assignment.
• Close your post with one question you have about this upcoming field excursion to Seneca Lake.