Mass & Change Laboratory Report
All lab reports must be typed in 12 Times New Roman fonts. Do not bring in your flash drive or email a copy to be
printed in class.
Title Page




Title of experiment “Mass and Change”
o Begin your title with a keyword; avoid using articles like “The” or “A”.
Your name and the names of your lab partners (spelled correctly)
Your instructor's name
The date the lab was performed (not the due date)
Purpose


The purpose should be one paragraph explaining the objectives of the lab.
Your hypothesis statement will be contained in this paragraph.
o A hypothesis contains two variables. One is "independent" and the other is "dependent." The independent
variable is the one you control and the dependent variable is the one you observe and measure. The
hypothesis is written as an “if and then” statement. The “if” is the dependent variable observed and
measured. Background knowledge (research) is used to form your “if”. The “then” is the independent
variable you control. As you manipulate the independent variable, the dependent variable will change.
For example:
“If matter is conserved in all physical and chemical changes, and we subject different kinds of matter to
physical and chemical changes, then the mass of the matter will not change, only the form of the matter
will change.”
Materials

List everything needed to conduct your experiment. This should be listed vertically and either numbered or
bulleted.
Procedures

Describe the steps you completed during your investigation. This section must be detailed enough that someone
can read this section and duplicate your experiment. Number or bullet your steps.
Results/Data

Numerical data obtained from your experiment will be presented in a table.
Steel Wool
Expansion
Initial Mass
Final Mass
Burning of
Steel Wool
Solid and
Liquid H2O
Sugar & H2O
Mass of a
Precipitate
AlkaSeltzer and
H2O

This section also contains calculations performed based on your data. Calculates can be computer generated or
hand written.
Calculations were required in each of the six labs. You subtracted the initial mass from the final mass. They all
have the form:
Final mass
-Initial mass
You will include each of these calculations in this section and label which of the six labs it is from.

All diagrams belong in this section.
We drew before and after particle diagrams for each one of the six labs. These will be included in this section.
Label the diagrams with the appropriate part of the Mass & Change Labs it is from.

Do not fabricate your data. If errors were made, you will discuss them in the analysis.
Analysis


This section is an interpretation the data; you will draw conclusions in the conclusion section.
This is where you will discuss the results in terms of measurement expectations and actual results. In other words,
you will discuss what the measurement should have been and why your lab group obtained the results they did
(mistakes). Describe ways of avoiding these mistakes in the future.
Conclusion



Briefly discuss the experiment.
Determine whether the hypothesis was accepted or rejected and what this indicates.
This is the section where you draw conclusions from the data.
Works Cited


Any information that came from another source (including your textbook, class notes, handouts, etc.) must be
listed here.
You can use the same format for references that you use in your English classes or any other format, as long as it
includes the author, title, where & when the work was published, and the specific location (such as page
numbers).
Remember: Although we collaborate in the laboratory as a group, but we all write our own lab reports! If
plagiarism is suspected, you will receive a zero for the report.
Some of the above material came from the websites below. There are several great sources on the internet to
guide you in writing lab reports.
http://math-and-reading-help-for-kids.org/articles/High_School_Science_Lab_Reports:_Mastering_the_Scientific_Method.html
http://chemistry.about.com/od/chemistrylabexperiments/a/labreports.htm
http://www.mrbigler.com/documents/report-style-guide.html