It is common to be asked to write a lab report throughout your science course in the university. It trains you for skills that will be useful to you in the world of science after college. You will work smarter as you improve on effective lab report writing skills and write reports that are clear and explicit.
The most important point to remember is to use past tense when writing your lab report, be consistent with grammar, and follow the right structure. This simple guide will help write quality, detailed lab reports with ease.
Key points to remember
- Make use of apps for writing lab reports to create a coherent lab report.
- Prove that you understand the concept behind the information you have
- Present your report in a way that shows your research was within the concept
- Present the results/findings in a clear way
- Understand why the variances impacted the experiment processes
- Discuss how/why the variances happened
Key sections that must be covered in your lab report
1. Title Page
Even if your instructor hadn’t given you the title of your laboratory report, it is upon you to make sure you create one.
If you experimented with a group, let everyone in the group brainstorm for the best title. If you were alone, brainstorm using sources that you can find in the library or online. The title page should have the following details.
- Experiment title – it must include the primary goal of the experiment
- Your name (include your partner’s name if you had any)
- Name of your lecturer
- Date of the experiment
- Submission date
2. Ask for help with your lab report
Laboratory reports form an important part of your science course. They prove your skills in setting lab apparatus, mixing samples, performing tests, and making reports.
The problem with many students might be at the time of writing a lab report because you require to use correct grammar, scientific terms and to follow the right lab report structure.
If you have any problems with writing a lab report, EduBirdie writer checks lab reports and will help you ensure your report is good. Make them your writing help experts in 2022 to enhance your learning and studying experience.
3. Abstract
This section should be a summary of the goal of your experiment. Make sure you capture your key findings, the main discussion point, and main conclusions. This section should contain no more than 200 words.
4. Introduction
This section explains the purpose of your laboratory report. That is, discuss your objectives and state your hypothesis.
You may decide to include brief background information and a summary of the procedures of your experiment. Give a short statement of the findings and a list of the conclusions.
5. Methods
In this section, your first point is to list the materials that you used. Some students create a separate title for the materials. Next, state how you experimented with details making sure you are as accurate as possible. Discuss the following:
- Number of apparatus/equipment used
- Material used
- How data was collected – step by step
- Any challenges experienced during testing
- Challenges that were resolved
- Other strategies that might add value to the experiment
6. Procedure
In this section, discuss how the actual experiment was done from point A to Z without leaving out any steps or mixing them.
Start from the time of setting up the apparatus to mixing the materials or obtaining samples, all in a way someone else can replicate the procedure without error.
7. Results
This section displays the results of your experiment. Use figures, tables, and calculations, and then explain each outcome in a way anyone can understand clearly. State what happed to our samples. Did they change color, vaporize, combust, solidify, etc.
8. Your discussions
Discuss the results in this section and explain the why question. Give an interpretation of each outcome and if there were unexpected outcomes, explain why it happened.
If you had a predicted outcome, explain how the results were obtained to compare with that. If any improvements are necessary, explain them at this point.
9. Conclusion/references and appendices
Conclude by stating what you know about the experiment and the implications of the experiment results. Write another heading for references to capture any materials that aided your experiment. The appendices are the last section that lists your data, calculations, tables, graphs, etc., in the report.
Conclusion
A laboratory report should be written in the clearest and most explicit way to make it attractive and informative. It is a paper that explains an experiment you carried out, the apparatus you used, procedures, results, and discussions.
The lab report should follow the correct structure from the page title to conclusion and appendices. No detail should be left out to avoid losing marks.
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