Lab Report Basics

Title: Every lab should have a descriptive title ex: Evaporation of Water or Building Molecules. Do not title your lab Lab Report or something misleading like the cave of the flying monkeys Purpose: Every lab has a purpose. This is WHY you are doing the lab it usually relates to what you are studying in science Example: The purpose of this lab is to demonstrate the difference between atoms and molecules. Hypothesis: This is the prediction of what you think will happen in the lab. A hypothesis might take the form If. Then. Example: If the chemicals in the beaker are stirred, the reaction will happen more quickly because it increases the movement of the particles . If there is not an experiment testing something, there may not be a hypothesis. Examples might include a microscope lab, or demonstrating forms of energy. Materials: This is a list of materials you will need to complete the lab. It is like the ingredients for
a recipe. You should include all the needed supplies, but do not need to include things like pencil & paper to write the lab. Example : 8x11 Printer paper Paper airplane folding instructions Meter stick Calculator

Procedure: This is the step by step instructions for how to do the lab. If you are doing a lab in
class, the teacher will probably give you the procedure. If you are writing the experiment (like for science fair) you need to do the following: - Make sure the procedure is detailed enough for someone else to repeat your experiment. - List and number the steps (1, 2. 3. ) NOT written as a paragraph Example: 1. Fold printer paper to make control paper airplane (see attached instructions). 2. Throw airplane 5 times and measure the distance with a meter stick. 3. Record data. 4. Modify the design of the airplane by changing the folds (see attached instructions) to create an experimental airplane. 5. Repeat steps 2 3 with experimental airplane.

Data and Observations: The results section is where you write down the data you collect in
your experiment. It should include: - Data in a table, labeled, including units Distancetraveled(m) Airplane Model Trial1 Trial2 Trial3 Control 3.25 6.58 6.85 Experimental 15.96 12.6 12.22

Average 5.47 13.59

Lab Report Basics

- Quantitative data: Measurements (time, distance, mass) o ALWAYS use metric measurements! - Qualitative data: descriptions and observations (color, texture) - Problems that may have affected your results (fact, not opinion) o ran out of time o spilled the beaker and had to start over o was absent one day

Conclusion: The conclusion is the most important part of the lab it summarizes everything you
did, what, how, and why. The reader should be able to read ONLY the conclusion and know what you did, how, why, what problems there were, and what you learned. If the reader wants more information, they can look at your results and procedure. Conclusions should have a formal, scientific voice. Labs are about what you observed and what you learned from this, NOT whether you thought the activity is boring or fun. You

should NEVER finish your lab with this was fun, we should do more labs like this or the end.
Conclusions should always be written in paragraph form, referring to the lab so that the reader has all the information needed. For example: The results confirmed the hypothesis, that stirring the mixture caused the reaction to happen faster, NOT yes, my hypothesis was right. However, you may restate the hypothesis and then say this hypothesis was proved correct.

Outline for a good three paragraph conclusion:

Paragraph 1: Background information and purpose Include pertinent information from your research. Define words from the lab, explain and make connections as necessary. DONT assume the reader knows it is your job to explain. Summarize the purpose. Paragraph 2: Hypothesis, procedure and results summary Summarize the procedure: o The experiment was completed using to see what happened when o OR The experiment was performed by in order to . Summarize your hypothesis or predictions: o We predicted that because. OR The researchers predicted that if then o DO NOT say see the procedure above o And if your hypothesis was correct: This confirmed (or contradicted) our hypothesis Summarize the results what happened: o The experiment showed that OR The group found that o DO NOT list EVERY bit of data, just the highlights or overall patterns. Paragraph 3: Sources of error, changes for next time, practical applications Sources of Error yes, there are ALWAYS sources of error measurement, things that didnt go right or that you forgot or misunderstood, human error, things that involve opinion (what color is it?). Practical applications, or uses for this. This might include other labs you have done that are similar or on a related topic or a better design for next time or follow up experiment.