General Guidelines for How to Write a Lab Report

All lab reports must be typed or neatly written and include a cover page. The cover page should include the following information:

·        Name or title of the experiment

·        Your name

·        Date the lab was done

·        Class period

·        Lab partners

Work that is done in class during the lab period can be included in your lab report. It does not have to be redone as long as is neat and it is written in your own handwriting. Work that is done at home should be typed. The lab sheet (experiment) should be included with your lab report. Each student is required to hand in his/her own original lab report.  There will be zero tolerance for cheating!

1)     PURPOSE:

Why did you do this lab?

What theories or laws relate to this lab?

2) BACKGROUND:

What do you know about this lab?

Give facts, not opinions.

Use information from your textbook, lab sheet or class notes. Put the information in our own words. Do not copy directly from the lab write up!

What safety precautions should be taken during the lab?  

        3) VOCABULARY:

Define the terms that are included in the lab sheet.

        4) MATERIALS:

What materials and equipment did you use? List all equipment and chemicals.

        5) PROCEDURE:

Explain what you did in the lab. Make a numbered list of the steps.

        6) OBSERVATIONS:  

What did you observe during the different steps of the lab? List at least three observations.

 7) DATA AND RESULTS:

Use a table and/or a graph to show your data.

          8) CALCULATIONS:

Show how you did all your calculations. Include units and the correct number of significant figures. Do not report just the answers.

          9) CONCLUSION:

Write in complete sentences in list form.

RERUN (worth 15 points)

·     R = Restate the purpose of the lab. (I performed this experiment in order to…)

·     E = Explain what you did. (I did this by…)

·     R = Results. State the results of your experiment. (We found that…)

·     U = Uncertainty. Why might your results be different from another group? If you were going to repeat this lab, what changes would you make in your procedure to improve your results?

·     N = New learning. What did you learn from this lab activity?

10) QUESTIONS:

Answer all the questions directly on the lab sheet in complete sentences when ever possible. Show all your calculations!

Created by Karen Tutnauer"
This page was last updated on 05/28/2005