A Guide to Writing Science Lab Report

A lab report is more than just something you turn

in to (hopefully) get a good grade. It's your
opportunity to show that you understand what is

going on in the experiment, which is really the

most important part of doing it. In addition, I think

it's actually very good practice for getting across
your thoughts about the science you are doing in

a manner that the reader can understand.



What you write in your laboratory notebook is an

actual account of what you have done in a given

experiment, like a very detailed diary. You should

be able to come back to it at some point, read
what you wrote before, and reproduce what you

did before. So should anyone else reading your

notebook, for that matter. That way, if you make
some amazing discovery, like blue aspirin is better

than white aspirin (btw: don't eat anything in, from,

or created in lab to see if this is right), you will
have a permanent record of it to remind you of

your greatness.



The Scientific Method: The scientific method is a

process for gathering data and processing
information. It provides well-defined steps to

standardize how scientific knowledge is gathered

through a logical, rational problem-solving method.
This diagram shows the steps of the scientific

method, which are listed below.

The Basic Steps of the Scientific




Method




The basic steps in the scientific method are:




•Observe a natural phenomenon and define a



question about it




•Make a hypothesis, or potential solution to



the question



•Test the hypothesis




•If the hypothesis is true, find more evidence



or find counter-evidence




•If the hypothesis is false, create a new



hypothesis or try again



•Draw conclusions and repeat–the scientific




method is never-ending, and no result is ever



considered perfect.

Example of the Scientific Method





To better understand the process of the



scientific method, take a look at the following



example:




•Observation: My toaster doesn’t work.



•Question: Is something wrong with my




electrical outlet?



•Hypothesis: If something is wrong with the




outlet, my coffeemaker also won’t work when



plugged into it.



•Experiment: I plug my coffeemaker into the




outlet.



•Result: My coffeemaker works!



•Conclusion: My electrical outlet works, but my




toaster still won’t toast my bread.



•Refine the hypothesis: My toaster is broken.




From this point, the process would be repeated



with a refined hypothesis.







❖ precisely identifies the focus of the



lab.




❖ Your title needs to reflect the



purpose of the experiment.



❖ Check with your demonstrator or




teacher for specific requirements.

•provides an overview of the report content,

including findings and conclusions

•usually the last part of the document to be

written

•may not be required in a short lab report




An abstract provides a brief overview of the

experiment, including its findings and

conclusions. In general the abstract should

answer six questions:

•Why was the experiment conducted? (big-

picture/real-world view).

•What specific problem/research question was

being addressed?

•What methods were used to solve the

problem/answer the question?

•What results were obtained?

•What do these results mean?

•How do they answer the overall question or

improve our understanding of the problem?

The Introduction should:

•provide the context and motivation for the

experiment

•briefly explain relevant theory in sufficient

detail

•introduce any relevant laws, equations or

theorems

•clearly state the aim or research question that

the experiment is designed to address.













Tip

•Always write the introduction in your own
words; don’t just copy from the lab notes.

•Some brief lab reports do not require an
introduction and will just begin with an
aim/statement.

•Always check with your lecturer/demonstrator if
you’re not sure what is expected.

The method section is where you describe what



you actually did. It includes the procedure that


was followed. This should be a report of what



you actually did, not just what was planned. A


typical procedure usually includes:



1.How apparatus and equipment were set up


(e.g. experimental set-up), usually including a



diagram,


2.A list of materials used,



3.Steps used to collect the data,


4.Any experimental difficulties encountered



and how they were resolved or worked around.


If any aspects of the experimental procedure



were likely to contribute systematic error to


the data and results, point this out in sufficient



detail in this section.

Experimental set-up and materials


Your description of the experimental set-up



should be sufficient to allow someone else to



replicate the experiment themselves. You will


usually begin with a description of the



materials used and/or the apparatus set-up


accompanied by:



•an image showing the relevant features of


any object or material under investigation



•a diagram of the experimental setup, with


each component clearly labelled



Procedure


When you carry out an experiment, you



usually follow a set of instructions such as


these, which may include extra information to



guide you through the steps.

Lab handout example


Week 5 Laboratory instructions


Procedure



1.Use a clean pipette to measure 25ml of



HCl (aq) into the conical flask.


2.Rinse a burette with standardized


NaOH (aq).



3.Fill the burette to the 0.0ml marking with



standardized NaOH (aq) . Remember to take


the reading from the centre of the meniscus,


and from eye level. Record the actual



reading in Table 1.



4.Place a sheet of white paper under the


burette. This is to make it easier to observe


the colour change during the reaction.



5.Place the conical flask onto the white



paper.

Lab report example

Procedure


The equipment was arranged as shown in Fig.


2.



25.0ml HCl (aq) was pipetted into a 100ml


conical flask. A burette was clamped to a



retort stand and filled with standardised


NaOH (aq) and the initial measurement was



recorded. The conical flask was placed below


the burette, on top of a piece of white paper.



Five drops of universal indicator solution


were added to the flask...
















Figure 2. Experimental
set-up for titration (taken

from Carroll 2017)

Tip


In the Procedure section you should use:


•the past tense when you are reporting on


something you did.


While most science units require that you report in


the passive voice, some require the active voice. In


the example below, the first person is used e.g. "we


initiated". This is accepted in some disciplines, but


not others. Check your unit information or talk to


your unit coordinator.











Instruction Your report


Initiate the bicarbonate We initiated the
feed pump. bicarbonate feed pump.

(active voice)


The bicarbonate feed
pump was initiated.
(passive voice)

In this section, you present the main data



collected during your experiment. Each


key measurement needs to be reported



appropriately. Data are often presented in


graphs, figures or tables.



This section often also includes analysis of


the raw data, such as calculations. In some



disciplines the analysis is presented under


its own heading, in others it is included in



the results section. An analysis of the


errors or uncertainties in the experiment is



also usually included in this section.

Tables, graphs and figures


Most numerical data are presented using



tables or graphs. These need to be labelled


appropriately to clearly indicate what is



shown.


Titles and captions



•Tables should be labelled numerically as


Table 1, Table 2, etc.



•Everything else (graphs, images, diagrams


etc.) is labelled numerically as Figure 1,



Figure 2, etc. (References to figures in the


main body of the text are usually written in



abbreviated form, e.g. ‘see Fig. 1’).


•Table captions appear above the table.



Figure captions appear below the figure.



The discussion section is where you:



•comment on the results you obtained



•interpret what the results mean


•explain any results which are unexpected.


Your discussion section should demonstrate



how well you understand what happened in



the experiment. You should:


•identify and comment on any trends you


have observed



•compare the experimental results with any



predictions


•identify how any sources of error might


impact on the interpretation of your results



•suggest explanations for unexpected



results, and


•where appropriate, suggest how the


experiment could have been improved.

The conclusion section should provide a take-


home message summing up what has been


learned from the experiment:



•Briefly restate the purpose of the experiment


(the question it was seeking to answer)


•Identify the main findings (answer to the


research question)


•Note the main limitations that are relevant to


the interpretation of the results


•Summarise what the experiment has


contributed to your understanding of the


problem.





I wonder…. I think….


















First:














Then:










I learned that….



Last:





Title :

Bread Mold Lab





Purpose:


The purpose of this lab was to


test the effect of water on

bread mold growth.





Hypothesis:


I hypothesized bread mold


would grow faster if the bread

was exposed to water.

What is Mold ?





Mold is something that we often take for


granted, as something that makes us have

to throw the bread away or the cheese smell


bad. Mold is, in fact, a fascinating organism


which has had many different uses over the

years and our lives would not be the same


without it. Most of us know that food seems

to become moldy more quickly in the


summer than in the winter when it is colder.


Food in refrigerators seems to keep longer

than food left out in the sun. Is this true?


Does temperature really affect the rate at

which mold grows?

Materials (What you need)

•4 pieces of bread


•4 resealable plastic bags

•permanent marker


•Water





Procedure


1. First sprinkle a little bit of water on

one slice of bread and put it inside the


plastic bag.


2. Put the other three slices of bread in

all three plastic bags.


3. Take one bag and put it in a dark

place, take the other bag and keep it


in the refrigerator, take the other one


and keep it in a sunny area and the

last bag with the water sprinkled in a


dry area and remember to label each

bag such as bread 1, bread 2, bread 3


and bread 4.

Experimenting Method :

Observation




Day 1: There were no changes due



to the first day of experimentation.




Day 2: There is no difference in



bread 1, its really dry and no moist. Bread 2,



there are little bit of mold because of the




moisture air in the refrigerator. Quite a lot of



mold in bread 3 with evaporated water on the



plastic bag. A little bit mold on bread 4.




Day 3: A better improvement of growing on



bread 1. Not much mold grew on bread 2, only




1mm increased. A drastic growth of mold on



bread 3.




Day 4: A sudden growth of mold on bread 1.



Only 1 mm of mold has grown on bread 2. A



rapid growth of mold in bread 3. The growing




rate of bread mold suddenly raised up to



more than 100 mm on bread 4.

Variables and Results


Control variable: plastic bag, bread slices.




Independent Variable: the different



surroundings.



Dependent variable: the recording results.

Conclusion



Comparing to my results, bread mold will



grow better in direct sunlight and will




also grow better in humid area.



my hypothesis was right that the bread 3



will grow mold faster.