A quick tutorial in technical writing How to write up your lab! A quick tutorial in technical writing

The Title… Describes what the scope of the lab is in LESS THAN 10 words Factual content – not creative writing Could use action words like: An investigation of… An analysis of…. Include the following: author date lab period

What goes in the body of the lab report? Purpose question: Stated as a question Hypothesis: A possible answer to the question Materials and Procedures: What were your materials? What did you do to test your hypothesis? Written in paragraph form Include any observations Identify the following: Independent and dependent variables Constants The control group Use SUBHEADINGS throughout the lab report!! Describe what you did – no more and no less! Highlight or underline the variables once they are written in to the procedure.

What else goes into the body of the report? Data: This should be in the form of a DATA TABLE! The data table needs a title Columns and/or rows need labels and units of measure Analysis: This section describes what the data tells you without explaining why. A graph is also a form of data analysis. Conclusion: This is a discussion about how your results compared to your hypothesis. Try to explain why your results did or did not match your hypothesis. Also discuss sources of error and procedural improvements. Graphs need titles, labels, proper increments, and a key A single paragraph is NOT acceptable! There should be at least three paragraphs. Refer to your data to support your conclusion statements. Follow the rules of good grammar and punctuation. The way you write matters!! NEATNESS COUNTS!