Informal Laboratory Reports
Name___________________________
The report is an account of your work in the laboratory. There are two target audiences for reports:
• The first audience consists of people with a background similar to yours (e.g. other engineers, technicians, etc)
who want to be able to duplicate your results. For this purpose, we will use a formal report.
• The second audience consists of people who have some understanding of the process/problem and want a
clear, concise presentation of the results (e.g. managers, other semi‐interested engineers, etc.). For this
audience, an informal report is appropriate.
Informal Report An informal (or memo) report should be prepared as an interoffice memorandum with the following
items at the top of the first page. There is no title page.







Heading: including date, name, lab partners, title
Introduction/Theory
Hypothesis.
Procedure.
Analysis. Since your audience is familiar with the work you are doing, typically, you only need to explain what
you found. The exception to this is if you use an unusual or unfamiliar procedure. Then, you will need to explain
this to your reader(s).
Conclusion.
References/Attachments (if needed). To support your hypothesis or theory, you might want to refer back to the
notes from class, an equation in the reference table, or your textbook.
Informal Lab Report Rubric.
You should be able to complete all your informal lab reports in class. The labs are considered informal because you write
them as you go. You should not have homework on lab days as long as you complete the write ups for each of the
experiments using the following format. Informal lab reports can be done on loose leaf paper or in a notebook.
Criteria
0 – Lets
Try again
1 – Keep
working
on it
Heading: Date, Name, Lab Partners, Title (worth only 1 point)
Planning: Theory/Introduction
- Describes what is happening to electrons in lab
- Cites a reference table, textbook, or notes
CCSS RST.11-12.1 CCSS RST.11-12.9
Hypothesis
- Writes a hypothesis using IF…. Then…. Because format
- Explains their hypothesis using logical scientific sense
CCSS RST.11-12.2 CCSS RST.11-12.8
Procedure
- Written in own words
- Draws a picture of lab set up
CCSS WHST.11-12.1 a-e
Data
- Records observations through writing, drawings, or graphs
- Draws pictures of what happens
CCSS WHST.11-12.1 a-e
Analysis
- Provides critique of experiment
- Mentions Sources of error or assumptions or limitations
CCSS WHST.11-12.1 a-e
Conclusion:
- Restate important data
- Does your data support your hypothesis
- Future experiment
CCSS WHST.11-12.1 a-e
Report Formatting
- Handwriting is legible
- Uses correct grammar
- Report is organized and easy to follow
- References are included at the end of the report
15 total points possible (1 point added for putting correct heading
with your name, date, lab partners, and title)
Total Points Earned:
2–
Awesome!