SBI4U: Guidelines to Writing a FormalLaboratory Report

In this course, you will be performing carrying out laboratory activities and in most labs, you will be asked to write a report to be submitted at a later date.

Your report must be typed(12 pt Times New Roman or Arial in black colour) for best readability. If you are planning to take undergraduate studies in biology, this will always be expected of you and this course will be good practice for you to work on your data analysis and interpretation skills.

You must have a title page(no images on the title page please) that contains the following information: a) Title of Lab, b) Due Date, c) Course Code, d) Student Name, e) Group Member Names. In the report itself, include the following sub-headings (bolded text):

Introduction

  • Purpose(s) of the lab, written as a short paragraph. You can find this on handout, but put it in your own words if you can as it is good practice!
  • Hypotheses, written clearly and in full, complete sentences.

Materials

  • List all the equipment you used in the laboratory. Use the lab handout or textbook (if applicable) to help you with this step. Do NOT include materials that you did not utilize. Use two or three columns to organize the materials list. A good lab report minimizes the amount of white space! For example:

Materials

250 mL beaker
Stirring rod
50 g sodium chloride / Hot plate
1 x 10 mL graduated cylinder
Scoopula

Procedure

  • Most of the time, you will simply write a reference to a lab handout used in the lab or a page number in the textbook. See the examples below:

For the complete procedure, refer to page 47 in Nelson Biology 12

For the complete procedure, refer to the lab handout "Titration Lab: Quality Control of Vinegar"

  • In other cases (especially when you design the experiment), list the procedure (steps) that you undertook using past-tense. The procedure must be bulleted using numbers.

Observations

  • There are two types of observations: a) qualitative (visual, descriptive, non-measurable) and b) quantitative (heights, masses, volumes, etc).
  • Organize your data and observations in a form that can be easily read by the reader. It is most often displayed in table-form or diagrams (eg. what you viewed through the microscope).
  • If a table is used, headings should be clearly apparent to the reader and measurement units should always be included.
  • Do not comment on any of the observations. You can extend on this section in the Discussion part of your report.
  • See the example on the next page:

Observations

Unknown
Sample / Colour Before Chemical Change / Colour After Chemical Change / Volume (mL) / Mass (g)
A / white / blue / 5.2 / 2.1
B / yellow / orange / 9.9 / 3.4

Results

  • The results section is an extension of the Observations section. This section takes the quantitative measurements and transforms it into a clear image of how the experimental findings present themselves.
  • When creating graphs, it should be neat and presentable, have a descriptive title (eg. Effect of Temperature on Enzyme Activity), have x-axis and y-axis titles (with units), correct (evenly spaced) axis numbers and no discrepancies.
  • Graphs should have its data points connected with a line
  • A legend should be used if you have a graph with more than one line.
  • If your graph doesn’t make sense, then it needs more work!
  • If you cannot fit your graph(s) within the body of this section of your report, you may move it to the end of your report. Be sure to write "Refer to the end of the report for the graphs".
  • Do not comment on your results in this section. This is done in the Discussion section.

Discussion

  • This is where you interpret your findings and connect them to your original purposes/questions of the lab. It should be in paragraph form but be careful, avoid long paragraphs! Follow the format as they appear in this order:
  • Re-state the purpose of the lab.
  • Give an overall summary of your observations and results. What can you infer that happened? Explain the trends observed (in graphs) and explain the findings using what you learned in the course!Use of scientific key words that have been covered in the course = great idea!
  • If there are any discussion questions to answer, include them in paragraph format within the discussion section
  • Discuss errors in the lab. Could anything have been improved? Where/why did errors occur? What were the effects of those errors on the final results? The more errors you discuss, the better!
  • Suggestions for improvements or changes to the experiment design?
  • A concluding statement that refers back to the hypothesis (or purpose) of the lab. It is a simple statement that outlines whether your findings support the original hypothesis or not.

TIPS:

  • Write the lab report as soon as you can following the lab.
  • Look at the amount of white space in your report. White space is unacceptable in post-secondary laboratory courses. Also, do not include pictures of equipment or include unnecessary information.
  • Use professional scientific language. Do not use unacceptable words such as “I think”, “sort of”, “maybe”, “kind of” or anything that you would not find in a scientific news report or journal article. Use important key terms you have studied so far in the course, but use them with understanding.
  • Proof-read your lab report before handing in as this is a 4U course. Messy, hand-written and disorganized reports are simply unacceptable Spelling and grammar mistakes should be checked for. If you are using a computer to write your lab, the auto-correct spelling/grammar features do not always yield 100% accuracy so be aware of this! Take pride in presenting your work as a highly organized, scientific document.
  • Use headings and subheadings that are distinguishable such as making them bolded. Over-use of stylistic devices (eg. font, colour, etc) is unacceptable and distracting to the reader.
  • If you are not sure how to write up a section or if you have questions, feel free to ask me. I am more than happy to help. Remember, it is better to ask than not ask!
  • Plagiarism is a serious academic offence. Copying from peers and/or other sources will result in you getting a ZERO and you may face further consequences.
  • Checklist for Successful Completion of a Lab Report:

Criteria / Yes
Title page contains: Title of Lab, Student Name, Group Member Names, Course code and Due Date
Report has subheadings, is single-spaced and 12-point font (in Times New Roman or Arial)
Purpose of the lab stated
Hypothesis(es) provided
Materials list present and organized in columns
Procedure with a reference included or step-by-step format is given
Observations neatly organized in proper form with accurate data and/or information
Results (if required) show analysis of observations in the form of graphical data.
If graphs are required, the graphs have correctly labelled x- and y-axes, axes titles, descriptive overall title and correctly proportioned axis numbers
If graphs are required, the data points are connected with a line and a correct legend is used if there is more than 1 line present on the graph.
Discussion section follows the required order as requested: re-statement of purpose of lab, overall summary of findings, analysis/scientific explanation of findings with reference to observational data/graphs (including trends), answers to any discussion questions if required, sources of errors, improvement of experimental design and a concluding statement
Proof-reading of report for spelling, grammar, sentence structure and punctuation completed