Mrs. Wright's Class Website



BIOLOGY I HONORS: WRITING A FORMAL LAB REPORT

*Each heading below should be listed and underlined in your typed lab report – 12 pt font.

Title:

The title should briefly describe the lab.

Introduction:

The introduction defines the subject of the report. It must give the reader sufficient background information to understand the rest of the report. Care should be taken to limit the background to whatever is pertinent to the experiment. A good introduction will answer several questions, including the following: Why was this study performed? What knowledge already exists about this subject? What is the specific purpose of the study?

*Do NOT plagiarize! Make sure you put information in your own words and cite where it came from.

Ex. Textbook: Prentice Hall Biology by Miller and Levine pg 57

Ex. Internet: on March 3, 2012

Ex. Teacher Notes: Mrs. Smith’s Notes on Mitosis

Problem Tested:

Read through the assignment and ask yourself—what is the assignment asking me to do? What questions are you trying to answer? Use clear language to state the problem being tested.

Make sure you state the variables.

• The independent variable is what you are changing or manipulating.

• The dependent variable is the value that changes as a result of the manipulation of the independent variable [is dependent on the independent variable]. The dependent variable is what you are measuring.

• The constants, which is the other variables that must remain unchanged throughout the experiment.

Hypothesis:

• In the form of an “if…..then” statement, if possible. Cause/Effect.

• The “if…then” statement should be an attempt to logically answer your initial question

• “If” should be the independent variable and “then” should be the dependent variable

• Should be testable.

Safety Precautions:

• List in a category separate from the procedure.

• In addition, you may choose to repeat one or more specific precautions in the procedure in order to give more emphasis.

Materials:

• Organize list in such a way that the reader can easily interpret.

• Make sure to include sizes of beakers, graduated cylinders, etc.

• Make sure to include units for measurement instruments o For example, “thermometer, °C”

• When you are performing the procedure, make sure that the amount of material needed is included. For example, “3g of yeast.”

Procedure:

Number the steps. Use specific language—be careful not to use ambiguous terms.

For example: stir: How? How much? How fast? With what?

For example: chilled: To what temperature? How are you chilling it?

For example: “can”—What kind of can? What size?

Especially watch out for ambiguous verbs because the person performing the experiment may

interpret them differently than you intended. For example: “put”, “take”, “get” etc.

Write it exactly as you want it done.

• Units---always specify!!

• Make sure that your instructions are clear enough that the step can be done exactly the same every time.

For example: “put it under the can”—where under the can? How far from the can? What is “it”?

Results:

Label tables and graphs with numbers, for example “Figure 1”. Also included a descriptive caption/title above each table or graph.

Data Table:

Title reflects the data being varied and measured.

Columns headings have both labels and units. Ex: Time (s)

At least three or more trials are collected and average is calculated.

Independent variable is in the left column (going down). Dependent variable is in the top row (going across).

Figure 1: The table below shows three trials of water temperature taken at different depths in a lake.

|IV |DV - Water Temperature C |

|Depth of Lake (m) |Trial 1 |Trial 2 |Trial 3 |Average |

|10 |55 |60 |62 |59 |

|50 |48 |49 |50 |49 |

|70 |44 |41 |48 |44 |

Graph:

Title reflects the data (measurements) being graphed.

Only graph the averages, not the individual trials.

Axes include both label and units. Ex: Time (s). IV on the x-axis and DV on the y-axis.

Scale is appropriate for data, spreads data out on the page and uses “sane/nice” increments.

Trend line OR Curve is drawn. Best-fit line if trend is linear.

Recognizes when a line graph should be used and when a bar graph should be use.

Figure 2: The graph below shows three samples of water taken at different depths of the lake.

[pic]

Conclusion:

Paragraph 1

Use scientific language wherever possible. This is a more formal document, so it shouldn’t be written like an informal letter or diary entry. Restate the purpose of the lab and explain whether your hypothesis was supported or rejected based on the data. Do not simply list your results for each substance. Use the actual numbers you obtained in the experiment to support your statements. You may want to refer to your graph, either by page number or “figure x”. You may just refer to the calculations (averages) that you performed rather than all of the individual data.

Paragraph 2

Explain strengths and weakness of the experiment, focus on process and procedures. What errors may have occurred? Are your results logical and consistent? If your results are not logical or inconsistent, document that and then try to explain why this occurred.

Paragraph 3

Suggest ways to improve your procedure techniques or changes in method/set-up. Also suggest ways to extend the experiment (what else could you test) and explain why your ideas are valid.

**********************************************DO YOUR OWN WORK**********************************************

Remember that lab reports are individual assignments. You may have a lab partner, but the work you do and report on should be your own. Do NOT plagiarize the work of others. This means you should properly acknowledge the work, ideas, or statements of others in your report. In accordance with Lexington School District One Honor Code, any student caught cheating/plagiarizing will receive a zero for the assignment – no exceptions or warnings will be given!!!

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download