Mrs.

Ps Lab Report Guidelines

General Information
This school year we will incorporate laboratory experiments as much as time will allow into our schedule.
There will be no set days for lab experiments but they will be worked in as they fit our teaching timeline.
You will always have a weekend to complete the lab report. The first part of the lab write-up is to be done
at home and serves as your entrance ticket into the lab. Lab reports should be:
Hand written in pen, in your composition lab notebooks
Always written
o on the right side of notebook only (left side is for grading and comments)
o in 3rd person (no I, we or you)
o complete sentences except for materials section
o in your own words (never copied from lab handout or other sources)
Include correct number of decimal places for any measurements and calculations
Neat (if you make a mistake, cross it out with a single line only)
This will not be a difficult task because you will have already written up half of the lab report in the pre-lab
as your entrance ticket into the lab. I will check the pre-lab reports as you enter the classroom on and
either allow you to do the lab report, or require you to complete the pre-lab in the library. Sections of your
lab report are listed below, they should be written a little darker and underlined so they can be clearly
seen.

Title and Heading (does not need to say Title and Heading)
Introduction
Hypothesis
Materials
Safety
Procedures
Results
Calculations
Conclusion/Discussion

Below, you will find detailed information on the lab format and what this format will look like in your lab
notebooks. We will also complete our first lab report together, so that we can all learn to write lab reports
properly.

Major Parts of a Lab Report

Title and Heading
o Centered at the top of page
o Title short (10 words or less)
o Date of experiment
o Your name & your lab partners names.
Introduction
o Brief paragraph describing the purpose of the experiment.
o It should also include some background information on the topic you are studying.
o Sentence or two about what will be done in the lab.
Hypothesis
o Stated as an If... thenbecause statement.
Materials
o Bulleted List
o ALL materials (equipment, chemicals (amounts also) and supplies) needed.
Safety
o Precautions for use of equipment and harmful chemicals
o MSDS information for every chemical used.
Procedures
o Clearly, in as much detail as you can, list the steps to be taken in order to complete the
experiment
o This section is as important as the results because if another scientist wants to validate your
results, s/he needs to know exactly how you performed the experiment.
Results (Data)
o Include observations and measurements you take during the lab period
o It could contain qualitative information
o It should be neatly organized in tables and graphs
o PLAN to draw your tables at home so what when you are in the lab your only job is to
record data.
Calculations
o Any calculations of expected results, actual results, percent error etc.
Conclusion
o Written in paragraph form and should include:
o The result (final answer or number) give data from lab as evidence for your result!!!
o Percent error (if applicable)
o Sources for error and how they affected your result
o Support your hypothesis or state that it was incorrect.
o Answer any discussion questions from the teacher or lab sheet.

Lab Report Check-Off Sheet

I am

Heading
accountable
Is it centered?
!
Is title succinct and relevant?
Is date there?
LAB1: I can write a clear
Is your name and lab partners full names there? introduction for a laboratory
experiment.
Introduction
Do you have purpose of lab report?
Do you have background information?
Do you have a short summary of what will be done in lab?
Hypothesis
LAB2: I can identify
Are the IV and DV correctly identified in the hypothesis?
independent and
Did you state a reason? (because)
dependent variables to
Did you make a prediction of what will happen in lab?
write a hypothesis.
Materials
Is it a bulleted list?
Accountable!
Do you have all your materials?
Safety
Did you account for all possible safety hazards?
Procedures
LAB3: I can write clear and detailed
Are they written in 3rd person past tense?
procedures for a laboratory activity.
Are they in your own words?
Are they numbered?
Results
LAB4: I can measure and
Do all your numbers, tables and graphs have units?
record data using
Did you report to the correct number of decimal places?
appropriate scales, units
Are your graph points plotted correctly?
and significant figures.
Are your graphs labeled (title & axes)?
LAB5: I can organize data
in a properly labeled
Calculations
table/graph.
Do you have formulas before calculations?
Do your numbers/answers have units?
Are all calculations included?
LAB6: I can analyze data with
Are calculations accurate?
appropriate calculations.
Conclusion
Did you summarize in a sentence (what was done in lab)?
Did you include your results/numbers?
LAB7: I can write a conclusion
Did you refer to your hypothesis?
outlining lab results.
Did you answer question from lab sheet?
General (Double Check):
Written in pen and on left side?
Make sure there are no I, you, we, my, our etc.?
Make sure all your sections are labeled?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sample Lab Report~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Boiling Point of Water
September 10, 2014
Jasmina Purisic
Parners: Morgann Clark, Shira Korn and Amir Tusher
Introduction:
The purpose of the experiment is to determine the boiling point of water. Kinetic theory states
that all molecules in matter are in constant motion. As these molecules absorb more energy
they have a higher amount of random movement. As energy is absorbed in the form of heat the
average kinetic energy (temperature) of the molecules will increase and that absorbed energy
used in the phase change breaks the attractive forces between the molecules. An example of a
phase change would be the boiling of water which is a change from a liquid to a gas. In this
experiment the temperature will be measured as a sample of water is heated to boiling point.
Hypothesis:
If water is heated up enough so that it starts to boil, then the temperature at which it boils will
be 100C because according to the reference table, at 1 atm 100C is the boiling point of water.
Materials:

500 mL beaker
300 mL Distilled water
Thermometer
Hot plate

Safety:
Because glassware is used in this laboratory experiment, protective eyewear (goggles) need to
be worn during the entire lab. Another safety concern is the hot plate which should never be
left on unattended and as soon as it is done being used, needs to be turned off and plugged out.
Procedure:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

The required materials were selected and taken to the workstation.

The beaker was filled with approximately 300 ml of distilled water.
The beaker was gently placed on the hotplate.
The thermometer was placed in the beaker and the initial temperature was recorded.
The hotplate was switched on to high.
The temperature was recorded every 2 minutes until 6 minutes after boiling began.
The hotplate was turned off and the materials were allowed to cool for at least 10 minutes
before the equipment was dismantled.

Results:

Calculations:
|

.
.

Conclusion:
It was determined from the data plotted in the temperature versus time graph that the boiling
point of water is 99.51C. This concurs very closely with the stated hypothesis. The percent error
was found to be 0.49%. Possible sources of error could have involved impurities in the water and
human error in reading the thermometer. Possible sources of error may be impurities in the water
which may be chemicals from dirty glassware. Improvements would include more accurate
thermometers, clean equipment and proper reading of the thermometer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sample Lab Report~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~