As you carry out each experiment, you will need to think more scientifically. To accompany that, you will need to write up your findings in the form of a proper written scientific report. Every scientist writes reports in the same style; use this sheet to remind you of the key features of a scientific report, and to write your own. You must refer to the S1 Investigation rubric to further help you with each section outlined in this handout.
Section A Inquiring and designing
RESEARCH QUESTION AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION
You need to tell your reader what you were trying to find out. This should be accompanied by some research you have done that will help the reader understand the topic you are investigating.
PREDICTION
What do you think will happen? What are the expected results?
METHOD/PLAN
You should explain exactly what you plan to do in your experiment, or what you did. You should also identify the independent, dependent and control variables.
SAFETY AND ETHICS
Are there any safety precautions when carrying out this investigation? If so you must list them.
Section B Processing and evaluating
RESULTS
As you carry out your experiment, you’ll need to keep record of what happens.
Often that will be in a table of results. You may also need to record your observations as you go along. Data may then be presented as a graph.
CONCLUSION
This is where you must try to explain what you have found out from your experiment. Don’t just write what happened, but try to explain why you think it happened.
EVALUATION
In this section you will state the strengths and weaknesses of your method. You should find solutions to your weaknesses by suggesting improvements to your method.