Your Lab Report

Each team only needs to turn in ONE report, but make sure everyone on the team helps with the report.

The format for your lab report should be as follows:

• Cover sheet - Include the experiment, date, class name, and the names and lab section of everyone who worked on your team.
• Introduction - Briefly describe what you are trying to show.  You will often be able to get this information from the lab write-up.
• Procedure - Tell how you performed your experiment.  What equipment did you use?  What calculations did you make?  What steps did you take?  Make sketches if necessary.  This section will likely vary quite a bit depending on the individual experiment, and to some extent, this could be just re-stating, in your own words, some of the things listed on the instruction pages for the individual labs.
  
• Results - Clearly describe what you found, using appropriate figures and data tables.  Compare experiment results with theory if that is appropriate.  Show your calculations.  (Be sure to include units!)  Label your figures.  Do not include figures that you do not refer to in the text.
  
• Conclusions - Write a brief paragraph summarizing what you found.
• Attach - any data sheets, calculation pages, or additional questions.
  

Your overall grade for each lab will be 10 points, divided as follows:

• Participation (3 points) - Did you help your team?
• Results (3 points) - Did you finish the lab completely and correctly?  Did you answer all questions specifically asked in the write-up?
• Report (4 points):
• completeness (1 point) - Are all sections complete?  Did you discuss all aspects of the experiment?
• organization (1 point) - Are things presented in a logical manner?  Did you include section headings and figure labels?
• neatness (1 point) - Did you type or write neatly?  Are summary tables and figures easy to read and understand?
• prose (1 point) - Have you used acceptable spelling and grammar?