Your Lab Report
Be sure to list the names and lab sections of everyone who worked on your
team. Each team only needs to turn in ONE report, but make sure everyone on the team helps with the report.
Your report will be worth 10 points, or half
of your grade. Neatness and presentation count. (Be sure to spell-check!) It should be at least
3 typed, double spaced pages, but needs not be more than 5. Use the sections listed below
as a guide to the organization of your report. (Include section headers.) Any figures or tables should be
neat (redrawn or re-tabulated) and in line with the text, just as you might find
it in a journal or magazine article. Raw data should be attached as an
appendix after the report. Raw data can be referred to in the text.
- An Introduction that clearly describes your project and what you
are attempting to find or show. This will be the section where you can
elaborate with any history, background information, or personal preferences.
One or two paragraphs should suffice.
- A section describing your Procedure. This is where you tell
what you had to do to take your data. To some extent, this is just
re-stating, in your own words, some of the things listed on the instruction
pages for the individual labs.
- A section that summarizes your Data and Results. There should be a
paragraph that describes your compiled data, which you may want to include
in a table or figure. This description should
explain not only what you observed, but when, where, and how you observed
it, any include any other points that you think might be important.
[Your "raw" data (sketches drawn outside with date and time
of observation written on them) should be included as attachments.]
All figures should have sufficient captions to "stand on their
own" without the reader having to examine the text body in detail to
interpret them. Similarly, the text should stand on its own when
describing the data. It will also be important for the figures and the
text to agree with each other! You should summarize any calculations you made based
on your observations. A paragraph or two describing how and why you
did any calculations will be enough. Any equations that must be
included can be hand written, as long as they are neat, and it is clear what
you are writing.
- A
short Conclusion paragraph in which you summarize what you learned
from this project.