How to Write a Lab Report
Average Grades 2009 Average: 57 Highest: 73 Lowest: 43
Common Errors Do not use 1st person (I, we, you, your, etc) Use “the scientist”, “the group”, “the students”, etc Do not use contractions (I’m, We’re, etc) Do not end a sentence with “etc.” If you did not know something, do not write “I do not know”. Either get the results, or come and talk to the teacher to figure it out!
Title Page Every lab should have this! It should have the title in the middle. The title should be relevant to what was happening in the lab. It should not just say “Enzyme Lab” Be more specific
Abstract This should come after the title page! It needs to include: What the overall purpose of the lab is What was being tested in the lab What the results showed Do not include the procedure, step by step, here
Introduction Include the following: What is the lab about? What are the functions of enzymes? How to enzymes react to different things? What enzyme is this lab talking about? Your Hypothesis!
Hypothesis This should include: What you think is going to happen in EACH part of the lab. You need an overall hypothesis or educated guess of how an enzyme is going to react!!! Do not write “I think….”
Materials List these out! It’s okay to make them bulleted! Include approximately how much or how many you used of each material If you have a recipe with out the exact measurements of each substance, your food is not going to turn out right!!!
Methods This should read like a recipe that a 6 year old can follow. Pretend that your teacher has never done or read this lab when you write these up. If you write the procedure from the lab, make sure to take out the questions in the paragraphs! Do NOT write your results in this section!
Results You must have FIGURES and WRITING!!! Figures can be charts or graphs. Observations – what you see. Do not just write a reaction rate. You teacher does not know what this means! Explain exactly what you are seeing! Writing – You must write your results in a paragraph! write exactly what is in your charts. Do not explain it or give reasons why you think something happened! Ex. The catalase enzyme in the HCl solution had a very low reaction rate. It did not bubble as much as the catalase enzyme in the water and hydrogen peroxide.
Discussion Include all of the following: Did you accept or reject your hypothesis – re-state your hypothesis. Why did you get the results you got Ex. Why do you think the catalase enzyme reacted the way it did with the HCl solution? What follow-up experiments could you do? Form a questions to ask and to follow up with. What went wrong – what could you have done wrong? Ex. Measurements, length of time potatoes were in each solution, different people doing different things…etc