The following video on "How to write a Lab Report" is presented by Sherri Seligson
After watching the video
Follow the link in the description below
For reading explanation and example lab reports with the accompanying lab videos
Video instructions for Apologia Science course are available on data DVD
At Apologia.com and streaming through Vimeo Video on Demand
What is a lab report?
Simply put, a lab report is a way to explain what you have done in an experiment.
You describe the results you obtained and then discuss what you learned.
There are several ways to write a lab report,
and depending on your class or your instructor, the requirements will vary.
But this guide is to help you understand the reason
why writing a lab report is an important part of the science process.
It will also introduce the basic structure of one type of write-up.
In college, any science course you take will require you to do a lab report.
But they are not just busy-work.
They actually serve a purpose.
You see, a written report is one of the main ways
to share information to other scientists.
It communicates the major points of an investigation to others who are in a similar field.
This is a systematic way to spread information!
Lab reports have their own unique style and format, too.
Though you may have been taught to write poetically and with artistry,
lab reports require clarity and accuracy.
They convey information in a concise and clear
manner as you explain your investigation and results.
These reports should only be about two to three pages in length,
so excessive background or intensive explanations are not necessary.
Just get to the major points.
Additionally, when doing these, do not use pronouns in your writing.
Instead of, “We took three milliliters of vinegar
and added it to our beaker,” you would write,
“Three milliliters of vinegar were added to a beaker.”
See? It is more concise and yet still very clear.
In a conclusion, don’t say,
“I learned that when you take salt water and place it in a container with fresh water,
the salt water will sink because I know that salt water is denser than fresh water.”
Again, think clear and concise, while removing pronouns:
“In a container, salt water will sink below fresh water because salt water is more dense.”
Of course, as in all writing, proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation are important.
And definitely avoid using slang.
Though a lab might have been “really cool,” you do not want to write that in your report.
Lab reports are technical documents, using correct technical terms
and incorporating graphs and tables within the body of the text.
So think of this lab-writing process as an opportunity
to add one more type of writing style to your skill set.
It will take a little practice at first, but as you continue to write more,
, you will eventually master this style.
If you are college bound, you will likely have to take AT LEAST one science course,
and lab reports will surely play a part in your grade,
so this is another way to better prepare yourself for the future.
Even in a career environment, there will be times when technical writing skills will be useful.
Structure of lab reports
So what do lab reports look like?
I will give you descriptions of the major sections in a lab report.
Note that some of these sections will not be required for a high school level course,
but it is good to understand all the possible parts.
For most courses, the underlined sections are what should be included,
but if you are taking a course under an instructor,
you should include those sections assigned to you.
Title page:
Lab reports are written in sections.
In college, most courses require you to provide a title page.
This is like a cover page to your report, and it includes the title of your experiment,
your name, any lab partners’ names, and the date the lab was performed.
Experiment Title:
Often the experiment title is given to you, but if it isn’t you will need to create one.
The title basically states what you did. It should be about ten words or less
and describe the major point of the experiment.
For search purposes, lab report titles should begin with a key word
instead of an article such as “A,” “An,” or “The.”
So instead of writing, “The Several Effects of Temperature Changes
and Varying Salinities on the Density of Water,”
you might write, “Effects of Temperature and Salinity on Water’s Density.”
Abstract:
This is another section that will not be required for high school-level work,
but is always included in college lab reports,
so I want to just go over the basics of an abstract
so you will be familiar with what it is.
Abstracts are a completely self-contained way to briefly summarize the procedures,
results, and conclusions of an experiment.
This way, when other scientists want to search through experimental data,
they can quickly scan the abstract to see if the information in your experiment
would be relevant to their interests.
An abstract is usually a single short paragraph
and is written in the present tense.
It comes first in the lab report,
right after the title but is usually written after the entire lab report is done,
because scientists need to first work through
and make conclusions about an experiments’ results.
Introduction:
The introduction explains the purpose and objectives of the experiment.
A good way to approach this section is to attempt to provide the reader with background,
discussing the what and why of the experiment.
Beginning with a bit of prior knowledge on which the experiment is based,
you then try to explain the purpose of the experiment
and why it was conducted in a certain way.
Often,
background information and purpose of the experiment will be found in your science text.
The introduction is also the place where you state your hypothesis.
Procedure (sometimes called Materials and Methods):
This section is important as it explains to the reader
exactly what you used to perform the experiment and how you did it.
It is highly detailed so that another scientist
your experimental methods in order to obtain the same results and gain extra data.
In the case of high school or even undergraduate college labs,
most of these procedures will be well-known experiments with expected results.
So for your purposes,
you will not have to detail every single item
or step you performed in the lab.
But it is important to describe the steps in a way
that shows you have a good understanding of the experimental procedure.
Again, write in third person, and use past tense.
You might say, “The beaker was filled with 200 mL of distilled water
and placed over an alcohol burner.
As the beaker was heated,
the temperature was taken every two minutes until the water began to boil.”
In some cases, it might be helpful to include a diagram of your experimental setup.
Results:
The Results section will include any data or observations
(quantitative and/or qualitative) you made in the experiment.
Quantitative data may be more easily represented in a table or graph.
When you make any type of diagram, be sure to give it a title.
And give numbers to your diagrams.
For example, you would call the first diagram Figure 1,
the next Figure 2, and so on.
That way you can refer to these diagrams in your discussions.
If you create a graph, label the axes,
such as Temperature and Time and include the units of measurement,
such as mL, °C, hours, and so on.
The independent variable will always be on the x-axis.
This variable doesn’t change, based on another variable.
A good example of an independent variable would be Time.
Time will not vary its rate no matter how much the temperature changes.
The dependent variable, then, will be on the y-axis.
This variable is often the one you are measuring.
For a table, make sure you label the columns and rows,
and include the units of measure, as well.
Some labs will require you to make mathematical calculations with your data.
This section is where you will include those.
If you are using the same calculation for several points of data,
you can demonstrate the mathematical process a single time
as an example of what you did.
For example, you might write,
“At 25°C, the mass of gas was calculated to be:
(include full calculation here).
The rest of the data in the Mass column of Figure 2
were found using this same calculation.”
Now, it might be pretty self-explanatory what to include in the Results section
but it is important to remember
that only information you recorded
when you performed the experiment will be included here
Do not give any interpretation of the data; just include the results you obtained.
You will discuss what the data mean
and any conclusions you may have in the next sections.
Additionally, only include information you found when you did the lab,
not what you expected to find. That can be discussed later, too.
This section is also written in the third person and past tense.
Discussion:
The Discussion section is where you can logically think through your data and interpret it.
The purpose of this section is to consider your results
as to how they support your original hypothesis or the previously stated objectives of the lab.
If you get an unexpected result,
here is where you explain why you might have gotten errant data.
Perhaps you did not have an accurate way to measure liquid volume.
Or you were using a balloon that was old and may have lost its elasticity.
As a matter of fact, if you had a lab where nothing worked correctly,
you can still write an excellent lab report.
Just explain what may have gone wrong
and the results you expected to get and why.
It is tempting to revert to using pronouns here,
but please continue to write in the third person
and avoid any opinions or emotions.
Remember, this is technical writing.
Conclusion:
The Conclusion is often a single paragraph
and is a brief summation of what happened in the experiment,
whether it supported the hypothesis, and what that means.
Any errors in your experiment are briefly stated again,
along with the expected results.
It mirrors the introduction section and includes your findings and their implications.
References or Literature Cited:
Some lab reports will require you to mention previous research studies.
if so, make sure you list them at the end of your report.
For high school lab courses, this section is most likely not necessary.
The entire lab report should be neatly written or typed,
and without spelling or grammatical errors.
Pay attention to significant figures in calculations
and report your measurements with proper accuracy.
Though this has already been mentioned several times,
do not use personal pronouns,
make sure you write in the third person, and use past tense.
You may be tempted to copy some information straight out of your text
when it comes to introductory information and for materials and methods,
but word for word copying is plagiarism,
and you need to put this information into your own words.
Follow the link in the description below
For reading explanation and example lab reports with the accompanying lab videos
Video instructions for Apologia Science course are available on data DVD
At Apologia.com and streaming through Vimeo Video on Demand