Lab+Report+Guidelines

TITLE:

This should be short and to the point, yet tell briefly what is happening in your investigation. Often times the title will already be given to you, in which case use that.

PURPOSE:

What are you trying to find out or do in this experiment? What are you investigating? This should be 1-2 complete sentences, as specific as possible.

HYPOTHESIS:

Use the “if independent variable, then dependent variable because…” format. Example: If 200 mL water is added to the plant, then the plant will grow two centimeters a week because plants need water to grow.

MATERIALS:

List the things you need to do this experiment. Bullets are fine.

PROCEDURE:

1. List what you must do step-by-step in this experiment.

2. Number each step.

3. These steps should be clear enough so that anyone could read your procedure and do the experiment.

RESULTS:

Record all data that you obtain during the lab in this section. These may be measurements like masses, lengths, times, etc., or observations like color, texture, what something looks like, etc. Drawings, charts, and graphs should be included in this section. Your lab group is responsible for making these charts. As a group, you need to decide how these charts and graphs will be designed. Do not draw conclusions in this section.

CONCLUSION: (at least one paragraph of 8-10 sentences)

A. What did you learn? List at least 3 things.

B. Restate your hypothesis and use your data to explain if your hypothesis was supported. If not, why not?

C. What is an alternative hypothesis? What further experiments could you do?

D. Did any thing go wrong? If so, what? Why?

Formatting reminders:

• NEVER use first person or names of people in any part of the lab write-up. This includes the following pronouns: I, me, we, our, my, they, their, etc.

• All lab write-ups must be typed with the headings listed below: o Title o Purpose o Hypothesis o Materials o Procedure o Results o Conclusion

• All lab write-ups must be double spaced with a 12-point font (either Arial or Times New Roman).