Formal Lab Report

Formal Lab Report

The lab report must be typed and follow the format below. It must be written in the third person and in paragraph form and include the headings listed below.

Abstract

The abstract is a one or two paragraph concise, yet detailed summary of the report. It should contain these four elements:

• What the objectives of the study were (the central question);
• Brief statement of what was done (Methods);
• Brief statement of what was found (Results);
• Brief statement of what was concluded (Discussion).

Often, the abstract is the last piece of the report written, because it is a summary of the experiment. But it is always placed first in the report.

Introduction

This section tells the reader why you did the experiment. Include background information that suggest why the topic is of interest and related findings. A relativity current article of interest that pertains to the subject should be referenced and included in the report. It should contain the following:

• Descriptions of the nature of the science and key terms so your reader can understand the experiment.
• A current event article, scientific journal paper, or other paper should be read and referenced in this report and related to your experiment.
• A statement of the purpose. Express the central question you are asking.
• Hypothesis, if one is used.

Experimental

This section should describe all experimental procedures in enough detail so that someone else could repeat the experiment. Some guidelines to follow:

• Describe what materials, and equipment you used (Materials).
• Explain the steps you took in your experiment and how did you proceed (Methods).
• Mathematical equations and calculations.

Results

The results section should present data that you collected from your experiment and summarize the data with text, tables, and/or figures. Effective results sections include:

• All results should be presented, including those that do not support the hypothesis.
• Statements made in the text must be supported by the results contained in figures and tables.

Discussion

The discussion section should explain to the reader the significance of the results and give a detailed account of what happened in the experiment. Evaluate what happened, based on the hypothesis and purpose of the experiment. If the results contained errors, analyze the reasons for the errors. The discussion should contain:

• Summarize the important findings of your observations.
• Answer all questions from the lab in paragraph form.
• For each result, describe the patterns, principles, relationships your results show. Explain how your results relate to expectations and to references cited. Explain any agreements, contradictions, or exceptions. Describe what additional research might resolve contradictions or explain exceptions.

References

A listing of published works you cited in the text.