Writing a Lab Report For Jr. Science

	The laboratory (lab) report is a method of recording and reporting which is used by investigators in many disciplines, including Science. The following guide will help you prepare your lab reports. We will use the following categories and format for a lab report.

Activity Number and FULL TITLE go at the top of the page.

Date : Name :

Block : Partners :

PURPOSE or OBJECTIVE : This is a sentence that describes what the experimenter is trying to find out.

PROCEDURE : These are the steps needed to carry out the investigation. They should be listed in the correct order. You may state only the pages in your textbook on which the steps are found.

MATERIALS : Materials is a list of all items used during an experiment.

ILLUSTRATION : A large, neat, labeled drawing. Draw in pencil. Use a ruler where appropriate.

SAFETY-PRECAUTIONS : If the lab investigation contains possible sources of injury. Your teacher and Science textbook will inform you of these.

DATA & OBSERVATIONS : These are actual measurements and observations which you make during an investigation. Data tables with titles and correct units are often used. If not in a table, write observations in complete sentences.

GRAPHS : Follow the graphing instructions provided. Include a complete title, label the axes. Use colour codes (with a legend) for multiple data or categories

ANALYSIS : This is the section where you really get to use your brains, and this is definitely what separates the good scientists from the basement lab hackers.

Here is where you have to decide and explain :

· what exactly your data is telling you about your experiment !!

· summarize your results and explain WHAT THEY MEAN !!!

DO NOT REPEAT THE PROCEDURE HERE!!!!

The may also want to consider questions such as :

Ø what changes could you make to your original procedure to get a more accurate answer to your original question?

Ø how does your data relate to what you thought might happen .... if it matches your hypothesis, what does this confirm, and if not, than why do you suppose things turned out differently than you expected?

Ø what new questions did this experiment bring up, and what further tests could you perform in order to answer these questions?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS : Often, you will be asked to answer questions that are in the textbook or that you have been given. Answer in full, complete, sentences.

CONCLUSION : Answer the question raised in the 'Purpose' section, be brief.

We will not be including ALL of these sections in ALL of our Laboratory Write-ups. Often, we will simply fill out a Lab Sheet to summarize our results. However, there will be a number of Labs where we will follow the Formal Lab Report Writing Structure described on this sheet.