How to Write a Lab Report

In this class, lab reports must always be word processed. Figures and graphs should be generated on the
computer and must include a title and units. Lab reports are to be submitted as professional documents.
For this reason, points will be taken off for spelling and grammatical errors.

1) Title Page: The title should indicate what the laboratory report is about. It should be brief, start
with a key word, and indicate the nature of the investigation.

2) Objective/ Purpose: In one or two sentences, explain the objectives, or purpose of the
investigation. In one clear sentence, state your hypothesis if there is one. (Not all labs have a
hypothesis.)

3) Theory: This is the background information about the concepts in the lab. Here you will explain
how the activity is conducted and the explanation of any science terms.

4) Materials: This is a complete list of everything you needed to complete your experiment. This
must be in columns.

5) Methods: This section is a detailed narrative describing the numbered steps you completed
during the lab. It is your procedure. Any random person should be able to read this section
and duplicate your experiment. Write it as if you are writing instructions for someone else to
complete the lab.

6) Results: In this part of the laboratory report, you organize and summarize the data generated
by your experiment. You should discuss your data table in words.

 Data Table: often times, a data table is used to represent the results of an experiment. Any
numbers entered into the data table must be complete with units. Your table must also be
labeled with a descriptive title.

 Figures & Graphs: Graphs and figures must both be labeled with a descriptive title. These are
pictures of your numerical data. Line graphs must have both axes labeled with specific units of
measure. The independent variable should always be recorded on the X-axis. The dependent
variable is recorded on the Y-axis. If creating a bar graph or pie chart be sure to include a key.

7) Conclusions: This section should be one good paragraph. It is the most important part of the
report. In this section you must discuss and interpret the results of your investigation. It is
important to reflect back on your hypothesis in this section - Can you support your hypothesis?
Must you reject it?

For every report you must answer the following questions in the conclusion section:

 Include a summary of the results. You must refer to specific data from your table.
 What does your data tell you about the experiment?
 What happened in the experiment?
 What did you learn from completing this experiment?

8) Questions: Most lab have specific wrap-up questions. Be sure to answer them in complete
sentences with your answer reflecting the question.