Typical lab report required elements.

You and your partners are expected to use Google Docs for the common sections of the lab

Title Page Shared

 Use the title of the activity. For our purposes, the title will be used to distinguish one lab report from another.  Page must include: your name, lab partners names & class period

Purpose  Shared

 This gives the objective of the activity. What concept or skill was highlighted by this activity. Ask yourself " Why did we do this activity? What was I supposed to learn or practice?" Sometimes the purpose can be stated in one sentence. Other times it may be necessary to add some extra information to narrow the scope of the activity.

Materials  Shared

This should be a brief description or list of  the materials that were needed to carry out this activity. This could also be in the form of a table.

Procedure  Shared

This is probably one of the most difficult parts of the report to write. Most of the writing you have done up to this point has included a lot of descriptive language. Technical writing is very "cut and dried" by comparison. All you are trying to convey is a mental picture of what you did. Ordinal phrases are not necessary. The order of events is conveyed by the sentence order in the description. Remember that your audience should be able to repeat your procedure if they wish to do so and does it really matter if a 100ml flask is  used instead of a 150ml beaker?. Write your description of what was done so that the reader can visualize the set-up. Be sure to include reference to any equipment that you used. A diagram or picture of the apparatus may be helpful but should not replace a good verbal description. Be very specific in your instructions. Emotions (This was hard. or This was fun.) are not necessary and detract from the purpose of this section.

Observations & Data  Shared

This section should include only those things that you saw, heard, touched, or smelled (taste is out since we never taste anything in a science lab) not analysis. This includes both quantitative (numerical) and qualitative (sensual, not emotional) observations. Quantitative observations are best presented in data tables. Qualitative observations may be organized in table form or paragraph form.

The goal of this section is to present the data that was collected in the activity in a clear and easily understood format. Units are necessary for any measurement. If you are unsure about whether something should be included in the data section, ask yourself "How did I get this piece of information? What instrument did I use to collect this information?" If you are giving a value that you did not measure directly (such as density) it should not be included as data.

Analysis of Data  Your own writing

This is the section where you will show any special calculations that you made using the data you collected (not descriptive statistics).  Once you have shown a sample calculation, you may use a data table to show other calculated values of the same type. This is also the appropriate place to explain how the measurements relate to each other. This is the proper place to discuss validity - anything that happened during the activity that may have affected your measurements. Identify trends- not the causes. This is also where you tie in an explanation to theory. i.e what you've learned from class and your own reading. Put the expirement in context!

Conclusions  Your own own writing

This is the section of your report where you discuss how the purpose of the activity relates to the analysis of your data. In other words, what did you learn - explain it and compare it to expected results. (literature references are appropriate here) Stick to the facts, do not comment on whether or not you enjoyed the activity. Be specific in your statements. If the results of the activity were not satisfactory, suggest how the activity could be improved to give better data. Did the activity raise questions that cannot be answered with the data you collected? This is the place to mention them. Remember, conclusions are connections that are not obvious on the surface.