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The Title of my Lab Report… |
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describes the specific content of the lab concisely
but with enough detail to get the main ideas across to the reader.
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The Abstract of my Lab Report… |
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summarizes the gist of each section of the report in
a sentence (or two for an especially complex section). |
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arranges the sentences in the order the sections are
presented in the report, Introduction to Conclusion. |
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stays within the maximum words allowed (usually 100-200
words, but if there is a different word limit for my class, I'll be
sure to stay within it). |
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The Introduction in my Lab
Report… |
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defines the research problem by briefly describing it
and stating the knowns and unknowns (what the problem gives me and
what I need to find in order to solve the problem) and then gives
the guiding research question (typically one paragraph). |
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states in a sentence or two the scientific concept the
lab is about and then describes what I know about that concept that
is relevant to the lab (typically one or two paragraphs). |
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Establishes the hypothesis that comes out of
the research question, explains the reasoning (based on the scientific
concept and logic) I used to arrive at the hypothesis, and finally
briefly summarizes the experimental procedures I used to test the
hypothesis (typically one or two paragraphs). |
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The Methods in my Lab Report… |
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provides a concise, easy-to-follow description of the
specific procedures followed in the lab. |
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gives enough detail of both the materials and the procedure
used so that the experiment could be repeated just as I did it. |
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The Results in my Lab Report… |
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begins with a sentence or two describing the overall
findings of the lab. |
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contains visuals (tables or graphs or other figures)
that are appropriate to the data and are arranged in an order that
best tells the "story" of the data. |
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consists of a paragraph for each visual and structures
each paragraph by (1) summarizing in a sentence or two the overall
trend shown in that visual and then (2) supporting the summary by
including any specific details from the visual that are important
for understanding the results. |
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clearly refers to the appropriate visuals in the paragraphs
(Table 1, Figure 2, etc.). |
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reports the data from the experiment only, successfully
avoiding any explanations or conclusions about the data. |
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The Discussion in my Lab Report… |
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begins with a statement of whether or not the overall
results support, do not support, or support to some extent my original
hypothesis (from the Introduction). |
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points to specific data from the findings as evidence
for deciding whether or not the hypothesis is supported |
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uses what I have learned about the scientific concept
of the lab to explain in a convincing way why or why not the data
support my hypothesis. |
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restates the research question, presents the answer to the question
as suggested by the experiment, and then shows how the experiment
solved the unknowns (which led to the answer of the research question). |
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restates the research problem the experiment was supposed to solve
and gives the solution to the problem as suggested by the answer to
the research question. |
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addresses other issues that may be appropriate, such
as (1) any problems that occurred or sources of uncertainty in the
lab procedure; (2) how my solution to the problem compared to the
solutions of other students and, or other relevant experiments and
explains any differences; (3) suggestions for improving the lab. |
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The Conclusion of my lab report… |
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directly states what I have learned about the scientific
concept of the lab from doing the experimental procedure. |
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gives enough details of what I have learned to be convincing. |
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describes anything else I may have learned from doing
the lab and writing the report (how to solve similar problems, how
to design an experiment, some aspect of the lab procedure or methods
of analyzing data, etc.). |
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The References for my lab report… |
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includes all the sources I have used in writing my lab report,
such as the lab manual, the textbook, and any reference books or articles
I cited. |
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uses the appropriate documentation style for citations
and references (CBE, ACS, etc.) |
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Overall issues: My lab report... |
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uses the correct format (titles, captions, etc.)
for the tables, graphs, and drawings |
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is written in a scientific style (tone should be objective;
sentences should be clear and to the point). |
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is clear of spelling errors (use the spell check on
your computer). |
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includes all the necessary headings (each section of
the report should have a heading). |
