AP Physics Formal Lab Report (50 points)
Overall Presentation (5 pts)
Entire report is typed
Calculations may be handwritten.
Double Spaced
Free of Major Spelling and grammatical errors
Thorough and organized
Proper Title: title should be the QUESTION
Introduction and Background (knowledge probe): (5
pts)
Complete sentences, paragraph form
State the purpose of the lab/question
Provides background information (defines key terms
and discusses any theories or equations that would be
relevant to the investigation).
Investigation Plan Summary (10 pts)
Complete sentences, paragraph form
In third person, past tense.
Paragraph form, NOT numbered steps.
Explains what measurements were taken and why
Summarizes and explains what was tested and how it
was tested
Explains necessary steps that your group took to try to
avoid lab error
Observations (Data Table/s) (5 pts)
Neat and organized.
Typed
Includes gridlines
Includes units
Includes all necessary data
Data Analysis(10 pts)
Provides all necessary calculations
Calculations are neat and organized and easy to follow.
Calculates your percent error and shows this
calculation, clearly showing which values were
theoretical and which values were experimental.
If graphs are necessary:
The graph should be produced using Excel or a similar
Data Analysis (cont)
software program.
The graph should be imbedded within the document,
not attached as a separate sheet.
Axes are labeled with what was measured (d, t, etc) and
also the units it was measured in
When linear, a line-of-best fit (trendline) is included
along with an equation for this line.
Units are provided for numbers that are taken from the
graph (ex. Units for slope, etc).
Explanation (5 pts)
Complete sentences, paragraph form
Follows the claim evidence and reasoning model as
described on lab notebook sheet.
Evaluation (10 points)
Complete sentences, paragraph form
In paragraph form, address some or all of the following
questions:

What sources of error were present in the lab?
Sources of error must be unavoidable errors that
would have occurred even if you did the lab
perfectly. These errors are present due to the
confines of the lab set-up.

What mistakes were made during the lab? A
mistake is different than a source of error. A
mistake is true mistake that was made, and if given
more time, you would correct that mistake.
If you had more time for this investigation, what
would you do differently?

What surprised you about this investigation or your
results?

How confident are you in your results?

What further questions would you like to pursue
that relate to this investigation? What are your
future directions for this “research?”
AP Physics Lab Presentation (50 points)
Overall Presentation (5 pts)
The presentation is done in powerpoint or a similar
program
The slides are well organized and easy to follow
The slides contain images, videos, graphs, etc. to make
the presentation visual
Text should be used minimally and when used should
NOT be in paragraph form.
Free of Major Spelling and grammatical errors
Thorough and organized
Proper Title: title should be the QUESTION
Introduction and Background (knowledge probe): (5
pts)
States the purpose of the lab
Provides background information (defines key terms
and discusses any theories or equations that would be
relevant to the investigation).
Investigation Plan Summary (10 pts)
This can be done as a numbered steps, a flow chart,
bulleted list, etc.
Presenter uses the information on the slide to
summarize and explain what was tested and how it was
tested
Presenter explains what measurements were held
constant and why.
Presenter explains necessary steps that your group took
to try to avoid lab error
Visually represents the data/evidence (5 pts)
Neat and organized.
This can be done by providing the data table, a bar
graph, line graph, etc.
Data Analysis(10 pts)
Summarizes and discusses how the data was analyzed.
Does not need to include step-by-step calculations, but
can summarize how the calculations were done.
If graphs were used to analyze the data, these are
provided h ere. Using the following guidelines:
The graph should be produced using Excel or a similar
software program.
Axes are labeled with what was measured (d, t, etc) and
also the units it was measured in
When linear, a line-of-best fit (trendline) is included
along with an equation for this line.
Units are provided for numbers that are taken from the
graph (ex. Units for slope, etc).
Explanation (5 pts)
Claim, Evidence and Reasoning format.
Evaluation (10 points)
Your evaluation slide(s) should address some or all of
the following questions.
-What sources of error were present in the lab?
Sources of error must be unavoidable errors that would
have occurred even if you did the lab perfectly. These
errors are present due to the confines of the lab set-up.
-What mistakes were made during the lab? A mistake is
different than a source of error. A mistake is true
mistake that was made, and if given more time, you
would correct that mistake.
-If you had more time for this investigation, what would
you do differently?
-What surprised you about this investigation or your
results?
-How confident are you in your results?
-What further questions would you like to pursue that
relate to this investigation? What are your future
directions for this “research?”