It's sad but true that many people think lab reports are a waste of time. Still others don't know how to write them!

Here is my question for all of you anti-lab report people: Would you rather write a long science report, where you would have to organize the data yourself for hours, or write an already-organized lab report which will take you under 45 minutes to write? If your teacher is making you record your data, I think you might as well make it understandable right away, instead of keeping the information down on tables!

Now then, here is a good example of one of the formats I use:

Title

My research question is:

Independent Variable:

Dependent Variable:

My hypothesis is:

Materials:

Procedure:

Controlled Variable:

Conclusions:

Inferences About Conclusions:

Recommendations:



Now, you may be sitting at your computer thinking, "I don't get it!" Here is an example of a complete lab report:

Title: Crowdedness Effects Plant Growth

Research Question: What can make plants grow longer?

Manipulated Variable: Crowdedness of Plants

Responding Variable: Height of Plants

Hypothesis: If the crowdedness of the plants increases, then the height of the plants increases.

Controlled Variable: Container, water, light, temperature, plant type (grass)

Conclusions:

Towards the beginning of the experiment, the grass in the less crowded container holding 7 seeds was taller. After a while, those grass heights and the 12 crowded grass heights met, and the crowded grass started growing taller. However, before much information was received, both grasses died.

Inferences About Conclusions:

If the crowdedness of the plants increases, then the height of the plants increases. Even though the grass height was higher for the less-crowded box at the beginning, the grass that was mainly the tallest the whole time was the crowded grass. After all, the average growths were: for the crowded grass, 8.417 cm., and for the less crowded grass, 8.25 cm. The roots probably grow better with roots of the same species close by. Therefore, when people are planting seeds for plants of the same species, the seeds should be crowded together.

Recommendations:

Follow-up tests could be to repeat the same experiment several times and to test the same experiment, except with different plants so that the answer to the research question can be more accurate. To improve the outcome of this experiment, more seeds should be placed in the crowded box so that there can be a big difference between the crowded and the less crowded. Other similar experiments could be whether plants of different species grow better in crowds or spaced apart.
 

A few key things: Don't forget to make sure that everything in your report is a complete sentence. All lab reports need a title. A good experiment also analyzes both manipulated and responding variables in it. Also, keep in mind that the research question is NOT the hypothesis. It is a question, while the hypothesis is a statement, your educated guess what the answer will be. The research question is the reason for the experiment; it's the question you were curious about.

A good format for the hypothesis is the if-then statement:

If the [manipulated variable] increases/decreases, then the [responding variable] increases/decreases/stays the same.

However, if this format does not work for the experiment or if it does not suit you, go ahead and use a different one!

Next, the procedures must be in order! It is a good idea to number them as well.

In the conclusions, you'll describe what happened and why. Describe any changes that took place. In the inferences about the conclusions, describe why things turned out as they did.

Finally, for recommendations, describe how this experiment's outcome can help make decisions in real life situations. State some follow-up actions that could be done to improve the experiment as well.


Well, I truly hope that this article has helped you to understand lab reports at least a little bit better!

~Lab reporter Ultrachic