(How to make a perfect report)
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Should be detailed! I should be able to tell
what you tested – Fertilizer, Acid Rain or
Crowding
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Good example – “How does watering with
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Bad example – “What does crowding do?”
different concentrations of fertilizer impact
the growth of radish seeds?”
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If…then…because statement
I should tell what you think is going to happen to
the height and health of the radishes
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DO NOT WRITE – I think that…
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Good Example – If we water our radishes with
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Bad Examples – I think acid rain will effect radish growth.
different concentrations of acid rain, then the
radish with 50% will grow the least and the control
will grow the best, because acid rain is bad for
plants.
or
If acid rain effects growth, then …
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(Pt 1)PARAGRAPH form – describe the
independent variable, dependent variable,
constants (at least 5) and control group.
Describe why you need a control group!
(Pt 2)NUMBERED LIST – describe your
procedures. Someone should be able to
repeat your experiment EXACTLY based on
what you wrote.
◦ Bad Example - Plant radishes. Water and measure
every day. Collect data
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You will turn in green data table – both front
and back should be completely filled in
You need to make a graph (more details in a
minute)
In the lab report, you need to describe
qualitative data in sentences
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Describe trends in the data – related to your
independent variable.
◦ Good Example – As the number of seeds per hole
increased, the health decreased. More seeds cause
the plants to be wilty, floppy and a little shorter.
◦ Bad Example – As the days increased, the height
increased.
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Compare with another group in the class
who had the same environmental condition.
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MOST IMPORTANT PART!
WORTH 15 POINTS
Includes three sections
◦ Evaluating the hypothesis
◦ Describing errors
◦ Science context
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Re-state your hypothesis – what did you
expect to happen?
Describe whether it was supported or not
supported
Prove it with data. Don’t just say “my data
table proves it” put actual data in the
conclusion!
EVERY group has errors. There are two kinds
– Mistakes (ex- over/under watering, pulling
out a plant, putting the wrong water in,
planting too many seeds, the control died)
- Human Error (ex – not perfect measuring of
water, not perfect measuring of heights,
skipping the weekends, touching it too much)
 Describe what the error is, AND how it
impacted the results
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What did you learn and how does this relate
to what we’ve been learning in class.
We are in our ecology unit. This should relate
to pollution, competition, ideal growing
conditions, producers, autotrophs…etc. Just
saying this relates to ecology is not enough.
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Clean up radishes
Calculate averages on data table
Make graph
Data Analysis – compare data with another
group
Post lab questions