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The body of the lab should be single spaced. This is just as it sounds. Your cover page should be simple and understated (no crazy fonts or pictures) and must include the following information: Title, Course, Instructor Name, Date of Submission, Student Name(s) This is the basic, background information for your report. You should display your previous knowledge of the key concepts, materials, theories and vocabulary used in the lab. This section may well require the use of outside sources which need to be accurately cited. Assume your reader knows nothing about the topic. This is not meant to be a summary of the lab.
You should not include anything you discover in your lab results in the introduction. (1-2 well written paragraphs). The objective defines the question the lab is trying to answer. What is the research goal? What are you trying to learn/observe/etc.? The Objective section may often contain a clearly articulated hypothesis, but not in every case. These should be separated within this section. Materials may be presented in list form, but the Procedures should be written out in paragraphs. Be specific about what materials were used. Include sizes, shapes, quantities, chemical names and ormolus, etc.
EVERY item should be listed! Be systematic about explaining every step of your methods from start to finish. This is not the place to include your results or observations. Include complete and clear descriptions of what occurred during the lab. List specific facts, measurements, times etc. Be sure your observations match the information you are looking to gather. DO NOT EVER guess or explain why things happen. Clearly explain what happened, but not why. Describe any unintended factors here. Ex: The Bunsen burner went out two minutes into heating the sample and needed to be re-lit.
Do not explain the effect this may have had on your experiment here). Your data section should also include some form of charts, tables, or graphs to display the results in a visual way. Charts, Tables and Graphs Your table, chart or graph should be descriptive and clear. Choose a style of graph that fits our data ( bar, pie, line and dot, etc. ). Include a descriptive title for your graph, chart, or table. It should be a sentence long, not only a few words. Label all of your data. Label the axes with descriptions and units. Label all columns and rows of any tables you include.
You may use a computer graphing program or draw it NEATLY with a ruler and clearly handwritten titles, labels etc. Use everything in found in your results section to explain whether the original objective was met (or whether the hypothesis was correct). What was discovered from looking at the results? What do the results mean? Explain how errors may have affected the results. Be specific about this! Why did errors occur and how did they later the outcome of the experiment? Tell what was learned about the topic. This may be just confirmation of what was already known or may be something completely new.
This is a good place to cite additional sources or previous studies to help put your conclusions into a larger context. Remember to be unbiased. It is K if you liked a lab or if you didn’t but you don’t need to tell anyone about it in your lab report. ** Leave yourself enough time! Lab reports take time and effort, both should be evident in your lab Writing Technically Technical writing is a very different style of writing from most assignments you have done in your life thus far. Scientific writing conveys specific information about a technical subject to a specific audience for a specific purpose. (Technical rating, M.
Marker) Writing lab reports requires a different set of skills from most other writing projects. Technical writing is not only used in Biology labs, but also in resumes, grant proposals, memos, etc. Technical writing is a vital part of any career you may pursue in the future! Tips for Technical Writing Write in a style that is direct and clear. If you can make a point in one sentence instead of 3 do it! NEVER use the first person (“you”, “l” etc. ) There’s no “l” in lab report Keep your language simple- Due to the fact Because Keep your sentences short to medium length. Long sentences can be confusing.