Overview: When a scientist performs an experiment, it is very important that s/he keep very complete and accurate records. These records should include:
How the experiment was done
What happened during the experiment
What conclusions can be drawn from the results.
The following is a general format for a laboratory report.
A. Title: The title should tell exactly what the experiment was about.
Example- if you had done an experiment on counting heartbeats, the title "Studying What the Heart Does" doesn't give enough information. "Measuring Human Heart Rate" is a better title.
B. Purpose: The purpose is similar to the problem statement in that it is simply the question that the experiment is designed to answer. Other background information is often added to help the reader understand why the question was posed.
C. Hypothesis: The hypothesis is an "educated guess" which answers the question posed in the problem statement . The hypothesis provides a prediction of what the scientist believes will happen during the experiment based on the scientist's prior knowledge.
D. Materials: A complete list of everything used to carry out the experiment. It is very important that the list provides the specific amounts of any materials used and that all measurements are given in metric units.
E. Procedure: The procedure consists of a list of steps to be taken to perform the experiment including the set-up, perfoming the experiment, and making/ logging observations. Another scientist should be able to follow and repeat the experiment exactly (like a recipe) and get the same results. The procedure should not contain 1st person pronouns like I, we, us, ours, etc.
F. Observations and Results: This section tells exactly what a scientist measured or saw during the experiment.
Observations - A description in complete sentences of what the scientist saw or measured during the experiment.
Results - Charts, Graphs, Data Tables and Diagrams that show the data collected.
G. Analysis and Conclusion: This section is the place where a scientist reflects on what happened during the experiment and states why s/he believes the observations and results turned out the way they did.
Analysis - The analysis tells whether or not the results of the experiment supported the hypothesis. In the analysis, a scientist describes what might have happened during the experiment that had an effect on the results.
Conclusion - The conclusion is a statement that answers the question posed in the problem statement.
H. Confounds: List and describes the possible sources of error involved in your experiment(s). These are the variables that you didn't/couldn't control that might have influenced your results.
I. Future Work: Describes possible experiments that could further test the hypothesis.