Earth Science Lab Report Procedure
Because Earth Science is a NYS Regents course, a certain protocol will be followed with regard to
8th grade science lab. This protocol is unique to 8th grade because of the lab requirements set in place for
Regents courses by the state of New York.
New York State requires that all students in Regents science classes should complete 1200
minutes of lab work. This is documented by the maintenance of a lab folder. A student receives credit for
time spent in lab only if the student has turned in a lab report for that lab and if that lab report receives a
passing grade. The lab folder containing the lab reports is retained by the school and may be audited by
the state of New York. The lab folder may not be returned to the student at the end of the year.
Because of the rigorous requirements set in place by the state, the following will be required of
8th grade students at St. Martins.
 All labs are to be typed.
 Labs will be turned in hard copy form. The hard copy will be placed in the lab folder after it is
graded. Students are to retain a digital copy of the lab in case the hard copy needs to be edited
or replaced due to loss. No claims of missing work will be honored unless the student making the
claim can produce the back-up copy of the lab. Since NYS requires a hard copy lab, it is essential
that students place labs in their lab folders as directed. Lab folders will be checked for
completeness regularly. Students should also save their lab work to a folder on their IPads or
home computer. This is important as students should expect to be tested on lab work, both on
unit tests and on the Regents exam.
 Hard copy labs will be turned into Mrs. Canfield on the assigned day. If a student is absent on the
day that a lab is due, the student should submit a digital copy to Mrs. Canfield, followed by a
hard copy on their return to school. Mrs. Canfield will grade the hard copy of the lab. Students
who do not have their labs on the assigned day should be prepared with a note from their
parents explaining why they were unable to have their labs prepared on the assigned day. If
possible, materials that must be done by hand, such as maps and diagrams, should be scanned
and a copy of the scan should be saved on your IPad.
 Labs are to be placed in the lab folder in chronological order. This will be done in class on the day
when labs are brought to school. The newest lab is to be placed on top of the others. If kept in
that manner, labs from September will be on the bottom of the stack, and labs from June will be
on top of the stack. Students are NOT to place materials other than labs in the lab folder.
 A cover sheet will be provided for the lab folder several times during the year. This cover sheet
will be used to verify required lab hours. Students will be required to have the lab sheet signed
by a parent. Students who are deficient in lab time at the end of the third quarter should not
expect to be invited to take the regents exam.
 I will be maintaining a log of all lab activity associated with this course. The names of all students
absent for any given lab will be recorded. The names of students who must excuse themselves
from the lab in the middle of lab time will also be recorded, along with the amount of lab time
that each student missed. (Normal breaks during class change will not be included in this record)
Lab reports will not be accepted from students if the record indicates they were not present for
the lab. It will be very difficult to make up missed labs. Attendance during all labs is
critical. Students may not get credit for lab hours unless they are physically
present for the lab.

Students are expected to re-do labs that fail to meet expectations for a passing grade. Failing
labs are to be corrected and resubmitted within 2 weeks of the day that they are returned to the
student. A 70 or better is considered passing. Correcting a lab will not improve your score on the
lab.
All satisfactory lab reports will consist of the following in the following order.
1.
2.
3.
A correct heading or title page
The exact lab title.
An objective or a problem question as appropriate. Many of the labs will be observational and
will therefore have an objective or purpose instead of a problem question.
4. If a problem question is used, it must be followed by a hypothesis.
5. Vocabulary words, as assigned by Mrs. Canfield
6. Citation of the procedure. Often times, the procedure will be provided by Mrs. Canfield If this is
the case, then you may cite the location of the procedure (ie; see lab assignment sheet)
7. Data. If data is cumbersome, then you may say “see attached” and attach data to the back of the
lab report. NO LAB WILL BE CONSIDERED COMPLETE OR OF PASSING QUALITY WITHOUT DATA.
8. A discussion section. In this section, students will answer questions provided by Mrs. Canfield in
the assignment sheet.
9. A conclusion section. In this section of the paper, students will write a paragraph or more
related to the objective or problem question of the lab. Generally, Mrs. Canfield will provide a
writing prompt for this conclusion.
10. Late lab work will receive a serious grade penalty, up to 5 points per day, down to 65%