Writing a Lab Report
Karin Paquin
Inquiry Project Plan
Edu 743
Objectives
• Learn how to create an exceptional lab
report
• Learn how to work in groups and create
your own voice when writing their lab
report
• You will have a better understanding of
the basic topics needed to create a lab
report.
Materials Needed:
• Laptop
• Projector
• Journals
• Pencils
• White board and markers
• Examples of exceptional lab reports
• List of lab topics
Lesson One/Day 1: Exceptional Lab
Reports
• You will break-up into groups of 4 based
on the topic chosen
• Topics Include
– Invertebrate Lab
– Phytoplankton Lab
– Studies at Sea
– Dissection Lab
– Marsh Transect Lab
Activity One: Introduction
(10 minutes)
• What are the parts of a lab report?
• What is a hypothesis?
• How do you create a voice in a lab report
Hypothesis statement
• A hypothesis is an educated guess about how things work.
• Most of the time a hypothesis is written like this: "If _____[I do
this] _____, then _____[this]_____ will happen." (Fill in the blanks
with the appropriate information from your own experiment.)
• Your hypothesis should be something that you can actually test,
what's called a testable hypothesis. In other words, you need to be
able to measure both "what you do" and "what will happen."
Activity Two
(20 minutes)
• Within your group read through the exceptional
lab report and highlight the key areas
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Introduction
Materials
Methods
Results
Discussion and Analysis
Conclusions
Activity Two:
• Note the authors voice in the introduction,
discussion and analysis and conclusion
• Discuss in a group the important factors
and what the purpose of the report is
about
• What was the hypothesis and was this
disproved or supported?
• How is the author wording their report
Activity Three: Class Discussion
(30minutes)
• Through shared writing we will create an
outline for their lab report
• Please note how the instructor begins the
introduction
• Don’t forget to formulate a hypothesis
Create a Lab Report Outline
Title:
Introduction:
Materials List:
Methods:
Results:
Discussion Analysis:
Conclusion:
Homework
• Students will be tasked with working in
groups to complete their lab report
outlines
Assessment
• You will be assessed for the content
presented in your outlines and will be
assessed for filling in the outline areas
created in class
• Your journals will be assessed for note
taking, content, grammar, illustrations,
and spelling.
Lesson Two/Day 2
• Creating graphs, tables, and diagrams
• Students will learn how to insert these into
their lab reports
• You will learn to create your own voice in
your lab reports
Activity One
(30 minutes)
• We will work together through shared
writing to create an introduction to each
lab report.
Shared Writing Example
Introduction
• A lab report introduction should include
the following
– the hypothesis
– the objective and purpose of the lab
– Background information
– Brief summary of how experiment performed
– The findings of the experiment
– List of conclusions of the investigation
Example introduction
• Unicellular eukaryotes belong to the kingdom Protista, and are often referred to as
“protists” or “protozoans.” The name “protozoan” means “first animal,” but
eukaryotes may display either plant or animal-like characteristics, or a combination of
both. Although unicellular, they have a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles,
making them functionally complex despite their small size. Each small protist is a selfsupporting unit, carrying out all the processes for survival in just one cell. They thrive
on moisture and can be found on moist soil and in fresh and marine bodies of water.
There are about 30,000 known species of protozoans, commonly classified according
to their movement patterns as sarcodines—moving with false feet called pseudopodia
or, flagellates—moving with whip-like structures known as flagella, ciliates—moving
with short hairs known as cilia, and sporozoans—with no movement. They all have
varying shapes, sizes, and survival strategies. For example, some may “hunt” small
particles of food such as bacteria or algae; whereas others may be parasitic,
inhabiting larger organisms. Despite their differences, all protists have several
characteristics in common. In addition to a nucleus or nuclei to house their genetic
material, most protists have mitochondria for metabolic functions, and vacuoles for
digestion and excretion. With the help of these and other cellular structures, protists
may feed, grow, and reproduce.
Activity Two
(20 minutes)
• Students will learn the differences
between tables, charts, graphs, figure,
and diagrams.
• How do you reference a graph, chart,
table, diagram, and figure
Example Chart
Charts always include a x and y axis. It is important to use this chart when
showing how to things work together over time. Such comparing the amount
of phytoplankton to the amount of salinity or temperature.
90
80
70
60
East
West
North
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40
30
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1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr
Example Tables
Tables are great for simply showing information such as that listed below.
Date
Time
Temp
Salinity
location
Example Diagram
Diagrams are perfect for showing how things connect or showing the
inside of a fishes anatomy to relate to the dissection lab.
Example Graph
Graphs are great for showing what happens over time. They also have an x and
y axis. Such as explaining what happens as pollution runs into the marsh and
accumulates over time.
stat.columbia.edu
How to Reference the above
• All of the above should have descriptive titles and
should include a legend explaining any symbols,
abbreviations, or special methods used. Figures, graphs,
charts, figures, and tables should be numbered
separately and should be referred to in the text by
number, for example:
– Figure 1 shows that the activity decreased after five
minutes.
– The activity decreased after five minutes (fig. 1).
Activity Three:
• How and where to insert graphs and data?
• Graphs and data should be inserted in the
•
•
results section of the report
Remember if the instructor wants a 3 page
written lab report this is three written pages
without graphs, table, charts, etc… included.
It is helpful to write the report first and then go
back and insert the actual graphs, charts, etc…
Assessment Day Two:
• You will be assessed throughout the class.
• You will be assessed for participation
during discussions and your journals will
be assessed for content and usefulness.
The instructor will make sure you have
written down the important components
needed to complete your lab report
Lesson Three/ Day 3
• We will learn how to bring each element
of the lab report together to create an
exceptional lab report.
• You will work in groups based on topic to
complete the bulk of your scientific lab
report.
Activity One
(20 minutes)
• Class discussion on how to combine all the
different pieces of the lab report to create
an exceptional lab report.
• How can you build upon your outlines?
Activity 2
(20 minutes)
• Write independently on lab reports for 20
minutes. Work on building upon your
outline. Create full sentences and include
more detailed descriptions in the methods
section, results section, and conclusion.
Activity three
(10minutes)
• Get back into your groups of four and
discuss what you have written thus far
comparing and making notes of missed
information
Activity four
(10 minutes)
• Final questions will be asked in this class
wide discussion.
Assessement
• Your teacher will carry out the final
assessment. You will have one week to
complete your lab reports and bring your
drafts into a final paper
• You final lab report will be assessed for
content, grammar, spelling, punctuation,
voice of the author, and format.