Writing a Partial Lab Report

Your teacher has asked you to write a lab report that focuses on one or more sections of the standard lab report. This webpage is designed to help you write that report.

Your report will have one or more complete sections—the section or sections assigned to you—but it will also have very brief summaries for each of the other sections of the lab report. So your lab report will have all the sections—Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion—but with only a sentence or two in the sections that were not assigned.

Directions for using this page to write a partial lab report:

1. Be sure that you know which section or sections you were assigned to write in full.

2. You may open a word processing program and use the guide on this page for writing your lab report. As you are writing, create a heading for each section.

3. Follow the order for writing lab reports the LabWrite way: Methods, Results, Introduction, Discussion, Conclusion, Abstract, Title, and References.

4. For each section you are assigned to write in full, click on the link, which will take you to a guide that leads you step by step through writing that section. (You may also click on the appropriate section tab in the index icon on the left side of this page.)

5. After you have finished writing that section, come back to this page to continue writing the rest of your report.

6. For each section you are NOT assigned to write in full, just write a sentence or two summarizing that section (follow the directions in each section.)

7. When you have finished all the sections, rearrange them in the proper order to turn in to your teacher: Title, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and References (if it is assigned).

Methods

If you were assigned to write a complete Methods section, click here for help.

If you were NOT assigned to write a complete Methods section, then write a sentence or two summarizing the procedure you followed for this lab.

Results

If you were assigned to write a complete Results section, click here for help.

If you were NOT assigned to write a complete Results section, then write a sentence or two summarizing the overall findings of this lab.

Introduction

If you were assigned to write a complete Introduction, click here for help.

If you were NOT assigned to write a complete Introduction, then write a sentence or two that (1) tells what scientific concept you are supposed to be learning about by doing the lab and (2) states your original hypothesis for the lab, that is, what you thought the results of the experiment would be.

Discussion

If you were assigned to write a complete Discussion section, click here for help.

If you were NOT assigned to write a complete Discussion section, then write a sentence saying whether or not your original hypothesis was supported by the results you found.

Conclusion

If you were assigned to write a complete Conclusion, click here for help.

If you were NOT assigned to write a complete Conclusion, write a sentence or two describing what you learned about the scientific concept of the lab by doing the lab.

Abstract

An abstract is a miniature version of the whole lab report. It typically consists of one-sentence summaries (sometimes two sentences) of each of the major sections of the report: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion. These sentences are arranged in a block paragraph.

If you are asked to write only an abstract of your lab, follow the directions for each lab report section on this page starting with Methods, but for each section, write only the one-sentence option (not the complete section option). Then put your sentences together in a block paragraph in the proper order: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion.

For more help on writing an Abstract, click here.

Title

Give your lab report a title. A good title captures what is important about the lab, including the scientific concept the lab is about and variables involved, the procedure, or anything else that is useful for describing what this report is about. For more help writing the Title, click here.

References

If you were asked to include the References in your report, click here for help.