AP Biology
Lab Report Format
Your lab report should contain the following sections. This is an abbreviated description that
explains what concepts should be addressed—in this order. The specifics of what should be
contained in each section of your lab report are described in detail on the following pages.

Title page
The title should be descriptive; be sure to
include your name, class period and the due
date.

Abstract
Briefly summarize the experiment

Introduction
A. Background Information
What information aided the development
of the hypothesis?
B. Purpose (problem)
Why is the experiment being done?
C. Hypothesis
At least one prediction of what will happen
in the experiment

Materials and Methods
List of materials and equipment used, and
procedure

Results (Data)
Tables, graphs, and drawings with results
summarized

Discussion
A. Analysis

Relate data to purpose; look for patterns in
data. Did the results answer the
question(s)? Did the results support your
hypothesis? Explain. Draw some
conclusions; support with your data. Make
new hypotheses: support with evidence in
data. Explain sources of experimental error.
B. Conclusion (Summary)
Final closing remarks, summarizing your
interpretations. Support with data.
Works Cited
Bibliography of all the sources of
information that you used in your lab
report.
Writing a Lab Report
Format
A formal lab report should follow the general format used for a research paper published in a
scientific journal. Although different journals require different formats, all papers have a
similar outline. They reflect the basic scientific method of asking a question, forming
hypotheses, conducting experiments to test the hypotheses, and interpreting the results.
Not all journals requite authors to divide their papers into clearly labeled sections; this practice
will help you develop good habits in reporting your findings. Therefore, you are asked to clearly
label each section in your lab report.
Title (5 points)
The title should consist of a few “well-chosen” words indicating the subject of the report.
“Well-chosen” means that the title reflects the scope of your report accurately. For example,
‘Artificial Selection in Wisconsin Fast Plants’ is better than ‘Fast Plant Lab’, and ‘Modeling
Natural Selection by means of Artificial Selection for Trichomes in Wisconsin Fast Plants’ is even
better. Be specific!
Abstract (10 points)
The abstract is a short paragraph of 150 words or less that summarizes your experiment,
including pertinent information about your experimental subjects, materials and methods,
results, and conclusions. This the part of the paper scientists read to decide whether they are
interested in looking at the rest of the paper. Thus, the information the abstract contains
should help people decide whether your research sheds any useful light on what they are
studying.
Introduction (15 points)
The introduction should be between 300 and 400 words and give the background, purpose, and
hypothesis of the experiment. It should include an explanation background of the general
problem or area being investigated, telling why this problem is of interest and outlining what
information is already known about the problem.
In this section you should discuss the underlying principles that are related to the lab problem.
For example, if the lab report were of the osmosis and diffusion experiments, you would discuss
the basic principles of osmosis and diffusion in terms of concepts like hypertonic/hypotonic
relationships, the effects of solute concentrations on diffusion, water potential, and semipermeable membranes.
The introduction should also present the question you are trying to answer or the hypotheses
you are testing. You should include what outcome you expect, and how it would help support
or refute our hypothesis or answer your question.
Materials and Methods (10 points)
This section should include a concise description of the materials, procedures, and equipment
used. There should be enough detail so that someone else could repeat your work. Therefore,
brand names of equipment, concentrations and amounts of solutions, species, size of, age, sex
and other information should be included.
Do not include the rationale for your work in this section. Also, be sure to report your
procedure as a past event rather than writing this section as a set of directions to your reader.
You do not need to report attempts at the experiment with techniques that failed unless these
techniques are very likely to be tried by other people in the future.
Results (25 points)
Present your findings in a logical, not chronological order. Give the results that you found, not
what you think you should have found. The organism is always right! Do not explain your
results in this section.
Results can often be reported more effectively in the form of one or more tables or graphs or
drawings. These should have clear labels and captions. Be sure to indicate whether the data
reported in tables are single readings or averages. Statistical analyses of your data should also
be included here if appropriate.
All graphs should have titles, and all axes should be labeled. Graphs should be drawn on graph
paper or constructed with a graphing program; they MUST be inserted in the appropriate
location in the report, NOT at the end of the paper. In addition a written description should
summarize the result illustrated in the graphs or figures. This should point out trends or
inconsistencies but not include explanations or opinions.
Discussion (30 points)
Analysis (20 points)
Here you should give your interpretations of the data and relate them to the questions you
posed in the introduction. Be careful to avoid making this section just a repetition of the
introduction. If you have any data to explain, do it here or make a new hypothesis as to shy the
results came out in a way you did not expect. Did the results answer your questions? Did they
support or reject your hypothesis? The result and discussion section of your lab report should
rival your background section in length (about 150 words). I expect more than a couple of
cursory, obvious statements here. The emphasis is on discussion!
Conclusion (10 points)
Draw some conclusions about your experiment, supporting them with you data. What is the
significance of your results? What are the main principles demonstrated by your results? What
further experiments should be performed to clear up discrepancies or ambiguities in your
results? How might your work best be continued or extended?
Works Cited--Bibliography (5 points)
You must refer to all the sources of information that you used in your lab report in a
bibliography at the end of your report. Failure to do so is a serious offense—plagiarism—and
will result in rejection of you laboratory report (grade of 0 (ZERO) with NO opportunity to
correct of replace this grade—I remind you—this grade is counted twice—as 2 lab grades)
While you performed the lab in a group, your lab report should be your own work. If any part
of the lab report other than graphs, data tables, or drawings, in the results section is identical
or extremely similar to any other student, you will both receive a zero on the entire report for
plagiarism! Therefore, do NOT work together.
Formatting:
Lab reports should be typed single spaced using 12-point size in one of the following fonts:
Calibri
Cambria
Arial
Times New Roman
Lab reports should be printed one-sided with one-inch margins with no spelling or grammar
errors. Each section should be labeled and be bold-faced and italicized. Separate each section
of the lab report by two spaces.
Failure to format correctly with result in a deduction of 10 points and papers that are not typed
will not be accepted.
Writing Tips:
Your report will be easier to read and understand if you follow these tips and try to conform to
the accepted style of scientific writing that is required for scientific papers.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Write in the past tense, not present or future: “two rats were anesthetized and …”
Use metric units and Celsius temperature scale.
Use correct abbreviations without periods.
For solutions, use concentrations in molarity.
Refer to animals and plants by their scientific names—not necessary when referring to
humans and common laboratory animals.