Date performed:

Title:

Use block style for the following categories:

Abstract:  Brief summary of the lab.  (Not for all levels) Could be replaced by objective, purpose, etc. by less advanced students.

Introduction:  Use this section to give background about the problem, define key words, explain new techniques, introduce equations and tell briefly what you will do and why.  If appropriate for a particular lab, includes hypothesis.

Equipment and Material:  List the equipment and materials, making any changes to original instructions that were made in the actual performance of the lab.  Sketch the apparatus, if appropriate.  

Procedure:  List the steps of the procedure of the procedure, giving enough detail so that someone could repeat your experiment, if desired.

Observations/Data:  Record any observations, qualitative or quantitative made during the lab.  This might include any or all of the following: data tables. charts. and graphs.

Analysis:  Interpretation of the data which will lead to an understanding of the objective of the lab.  In this section account for any experimental error that might have occurred.

Questions:  Answer any questions included in the lab.  (Not always applicable.)

Conclusion:  Write a brief conclusion that relates the results back to the part of the introduction that indicates what you were doing and why.  In other words, did you accomplish what you set out to do? Try to be as quantitative as possible.

Here are some important tips to remember:

• Write the lab in the third person, do not use personal pronouns.

• Use a straight edge to underline and produce graphs, charts, tables, etc.

• Skip a like between sections, questions, etc.

• It is preferred that the lab report be typed (may be mandatory in some classes)

• Graph should:    ---take up an entire page
                          ---be properly scaled to include all data points, etc.
                          ---have axis labeled and units assigned
                          ---have a descriptive title
                          ---have data points clearly plotted
                          ---have best fit curves drawn, i.e., do not connect data points with line
                              segments.