Helpful Starters for Writing the Conclusion



Title (5 Total Points)

_____/5 - Should reflect the purpose of the lab; Independent vs Dependent Variable. Cute titles can be used only in addition to the real title.

Statement of the Problem (5 Total Points)

_____/5 - Can be written as a question: What is the affect of fertilizer on plant growth? Or in a “To” statement: To study the affect of fertilizer on plant growth?

Background (5 Total Points)

_____/5 - Research prior to experimentation. Two or more definitions or sentences related to the experiment. (It is not a story about how the lab came to be. It is a mini-report on the topic.)

Hypothesis/Hypotheses (plural) (5 Total Points)

_____/3 - An educated guess/logical prediction written in a complete sentence

_____/2 - Stands alone as a complete thought; relates to the variable. Do NOT start your hypothesis with “I think”. The hypothesis should be written in the following format: If (Independent Variable) is (describe change), then (dependent variable) will (describe change) because (reasoning)

Procedure (10 Total Points)

_____/5 - All materials and steps. Please be sure to number the steps; avoid paragraph form.

_____/5 - The directions are clear, concise, with appropriate detail. Do not use “you” or “I” .

Results (35 Total Points)

Table required

_____/5 - Quantitative data; times, rates, distances, numbers, etc. (Also write out any additional descriptive information that does not fit in the table.)

Graph (if required)

_____/4 - Title reflects both dependent and independent variable

_____/4 - Both axes are appropriately labeled

_____/4 - Intervals for both axes are appropriate

_____/4 - Data points are accurately plotted

_____/4 - Appearance is neat and easily readable

Qualitative Data

_____/5 – Sketch or Diagram.

_____/5 - Qualitative data: data gained with senses, observations.

Conclusion (+35) – Use “Writing a Conclusion” on the back of this rubric as a guide. Do NOT use 1st person when writing your conclusion. NO “I”

_____/10 - Restate original hypothesis and discuss whether or not it supported the hypothesis.

_____/10 - Analyze the data. What was learned from this activity?

_____/5 - Did the lab go as planned? Any unplanned variables?

_____/5 - What other similar experiments can be performed by changing a variable? Is there an extension of the experiment that would provide more information?

_____/5 - How does this relate to (or could be applied to) a real life situation? Optional: What did you like or dislike about this lab? (This is the only time can use “I”)

WRITING A CONCLUSION

1st Paragraph - Restate original hypothesis and discuss if it was supported or not supported

1. INTRODUCE BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF LAB

1. Include any background information that will help the reader understand the science concepts that will be important for this lab.

2. You may need to briefly describe the equipment or the way the materials were set-up in order to explain how the lab was done or how the hypothesis was tested.

STATE THE PROBLEM OR OBJECTIVE

• What were we trying to find out? (see problem/objective section of lab)

3. RESTATE YOUR HYPOTHESIS (in an essay this would be your thesis statement)

• This is the final sentence of the first introductory paragraph.

• Was your hypothesis supported? Not supported?

2nd Paragraph (this section may be more than one paragraph!) - Analyze the data. State and explain the results

1. STATE ALL THE RESULTS OF THE EXPERIMENT

• For each result state a supporting fact(s) from the data.

o For example: All coke cans with sugar sank in water. Classic Coke and Caffeine-Free coke have sugar and they sank. All cans with Nutra-sweet floated. Diet coke and Caffeine-free diet coke have nutra-sweet and they floated. Caffeine made no difference in whether cokes sank or floated. Caffeine-free coke sank, but Diet Caffeine-free coke floated.

2. ANALYZE OR EXPLAIN EACH RESULT

3. Use the right resources to explain the results. Use the background information of the lab, notes taken in class, answers to lab questions or information your text book.

o For example: All cokes with sugar sank because their density was greater than 1.0 g/ml. All cokes with nutra-sweet floated because their density was less than 1.0 g/ml. There is a greater mass of sugar needed to sweeten cokes than the mass of nutra-sweet. Therefore cokes with sugar had a greater mass in the same amount of volume as the cokes with nutra-sweet. More mass in the same volume results in a greater density. Since the density of water is 1.0 g/ml and all cokes with sugar had a density greater than 1.0 g/ml they sank in water. (continue with additional paragraph to explain why caffeine had no effect)

3rd Paragraph - Did the lab go as planned? Any unplanned variables?

• Explain any errors in your data. If there were any errors hypothesize about what might have caused them.

4th Paragraph - What other similar experiments can be performed by changing a variable? Is there an extension of the experiment that would provide more information?

• What did you learn from this lab or what additional question would you want to investigate further? Make a statement about what you discovered or what additional experiment would you like to do to answer a related question.

5th Paragraph - How does this relate to (or could be applied to) a real life situation?

• Describe how the main idea of this experiment applies to understanding other areas of science or use other concepts in science to discuss the results of this experiment. Your teacher may give you some suggestions for a topic. You will probably need to do some research here.

OR

• Instead, you may relate the subject of this lab to a personal experience in your life. How does what you learned from this lab help explain that experience?

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