Preparing a Lab Report
Biology 314
Mr. Doron
General Format
Always nice to be typed
 Use Times New Roman as font
 Font size = 12; align both margins
 Double space your work
 Three hole punch on left hand side
 One staple top left hand side
 Black ink!
 Paper is crumple free 
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General Format con’t
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Insert page numbers automatically using the
computer on the top right hand side (do not put a
page number on the 1st page
Write in complete sentences
Grammar and spelling count! (can’t = can not etc.)
Follow the order requested (purpose, hypothesis,
material etc.). This should be one right after the
other (not on separate pages) and on the left hand
side. Underline each heading.
Forget any of these and donate up to 15 points 
Late = - 5 points / class
Cover Page
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Title in the middle of the page, centred, and
underlined. Capitalize major words except and,
or, the etc.
Put an appropriate and relevant picture in the
middle (image search, copy and paste)
Put course #, Lab #X: Title, your name my name
(L. Doron), and date that the lab report is due
(use format December 5, 20XX). Put this
towards the bottom right and left aligned.
2nd Page
Underline and centre the title. Put each
title on the left hand side. Capitalize the
major words.
 Skip a space and put the following titles
centred and underlined. Remember, when
you begin a new topic to indent…
 Purpose:
Often begin with the purpose of this lab is to
to determine… look in the book for
guidelines
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Lab Report Components
Hypothesis
State what you think will happen.
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Remember, a hypothesis that is proven
wrong is great – it shows the teacher that you
learned something!
Materials
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List material used in the experiment (all major
components must be listed)
Lab Report Components
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Procedure
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Describe the experiment. All major steps
must be described. There are deductions for
steps missing
Data / Results
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Accurate data presented clearly on a table.
Graphs must be accurate with a title and all
axis labeled. All calculations are included
here. There are deductions if calculations are
incomplete or if there mistakes in the graph.
Use words such as according to table 1 or as
shown in figure 1…
Lab Report Components
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Diagram
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Minimum of a ¼ of a page. Have fun with the
diagram. Should represent an aspect of the
experiment. Does not have to be on cpu.
Discussion
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Sample questions answered in complete
sentences. Marks deducted if answers are
incomplete.
Lab Report Components
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Conclusion
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A precise statement summarizing the
experimental findings. Include a summary of
key concepts and refer to the hypothesis. This
should be at least one paragraph. Note that a
paragraph should be at least five sentences.
Do not repeat yourself here.