Laboratory Report Guidelines

SPECIFIC GUIDELINES

The laboratory report has generally the following parts:

  1. TITLE
  2. PURPOSE
  3. BACKGROUND or DISCUSSION
  4. LIST OF MATERIALS
  5. DATA
  6. GRAPHS AND RESULTS
  7. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
  8. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
  1. TITLE –

Title should be specific to lab. Often the title of the lab is on the cover of the lab manual. Also be sure to include Lab Group number, period and names of lab members.

2. PURPOSE

A short statement of why the lab was performed. Should be only 2 sentences.

3. BACKGROUND or DISCUSSION

Respond to the prompts provided in the lab report requirements. This section should be about a paragraph long depending on the lab. If you use a resource, you must cite it in the report.

4. LIST OF MATERIALS (DEPENDS ON LAB)

For Eco-Column lab students must list all of the materials brought from home. No other lab has a list of materials.

5. DATA

All measurements must be recorded directly into the laboratory notebook or lab section of your notebook. In real life a dedicated lab notebook is used. Data should be presented in a table whenever possible. Place the units of quantities being measured at the top of the data columns. A typical data table is below. (bold information are lab data). Please include your raw data sheets if requested in this section

Mass (gm)
 W = 50 gms / Elongation
Y (cm) / Y (cm) / 2Y(cm)
0
50.0 / 5.600 / 5.600 / +0.005
100.0 / 11.205 / 5.605 / -0.002
150.0 / 16.808 / 5.603 / -0.006
200.0 / 22.405 / 5.597 / -0.014
250.0 / 27.988 / 5.583 / +0.014

6. GRAPHS AND RESULTS

Your graph should include a title (title should be specific to the experiment – independent vs. dependent variable), labeled axis, key, and units. If the results are qualitative, describe briefly.

7. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

Write the question out before the answer to any questions. Answer the questions provided in the lab write-up requirements. If there are no prompts, try to determine why the experiment was performed. Discuss the meaning of your graphical results. The discussion should be concise and to the point. Do not use over half a page. This, obviously, indicates that the student must think and use judgment before presenting the discussion.

7b. QUESTIONS

Some labs have specific questions that are separate from the Analysis and Discussion. Thoroughly answer these questions using the data and information collected during the lab.

8. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Ensure that what you conclude makes sense, is it usable by someone who wasn't there to conduct the experiment and is relevant to the purpose and scope of the investigation. Follow guidelines provided in the specific lab write-up requirements. Make recommendations for continued investigation or methods to improve the investigation. In some cases, we will ask for an error analysis (depending on the lab).

FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS

  1. No pronouns in any section of the report
  2. All reports must be typed, 12 point font.
  3. Report must look like one person wrote it therefore, it should all be
  4. one font,
  5. one font size,
  6. no gaps in sections,
  7. consistent margins
  8. Pagination – Do not start a section at the bottom of the page and leave the title on one page and the information on the next.
  9. Note at each header for sections who wrote the section.
  10. Spell check and check for grammatical errors.
  11. Use graph paper and a straight edge or excel for all graphs.
  12. Use complete sentences for all sections of the report.