Excitement in the classroom is contagious. If you are excited about what you are teaching, then your student will be,  too!!!

You are supposed to purchase a journal to record the lab observations.

PRE-LAB

 Title of the Laboratory Exercise

The title should be centered on the top set apart (line space before and after).  No need to write your name on every page!!!  Based the title on the purpose and BE SPECIFIC.  

5 points

Purpose:

The purpose of this laboratory exercise is__________.

A written statement of the reason for conducting the experiment.  Be specific as to exactly what you are trying to find.  The purpose of a "real" experiment should never be stated as________ to help the student learn something.  We are always trying to learn, but in this case, the student is, in fact, trying to learn to do simple research and to report the results but that is not to be stated in the lab report.

10 points

Hypothesis:

Due to the (scientific principle), one suspects that ______

This is always a very important component of research.  The student is always expected to do preliminary research for background information in handbooks, tables, texts, the internet, etc.  ALWAYS WRITE THE HYPOTHESIS BEFORE COMING TO LAB when you are told that a "formal" lab report will be due sometime after completing the session.  Expect these to be taken up occasionally and graded.  Base the hypothesis on both the purpose and the back-ground information you have found.  It should be a short paragraph or two which documents your assumptions and provides specific predicted mathematical results expected.

15 points

Materials:

List all materials that will be needed to complete the activity.

5 points

Procedure:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Careful here!  Be as brief, yet as complete, as possible.  Make complete statements in your own words.   WRITE THIS AS A SET OF INSTRUCTIONS!  (Please realize that writing the procedure as a set of instructions makes no sense, because your objective is to report what has already been done in a concise and impersonal way.)  Thus, it is to be written in present tense with no pronouns.

10 points

Observations:

Answer the following in the observations section: 

What did one see, hear, smell, or feel during the laboratory exercise?

10 points

Results:

All measurements made and data collected during the laboratory exercise should be recorded in the results section. Tables should be drawn during the pre-lab and filled in during the actual laboratory activity. Graphical depictions of the data should be included.  Following each figure illustrated, a paragraph is needed to analyze, interpret, and summarize the results.

This section needs to be organized according to the experiment, the data collected, and an analysis of the data.  It will contain data tables marked off in neat, compartments.  It will include the calculations... showing all formulas used, the substitutions, the actual steps, and the final answers.  When appropriate, the percent error should be calculated in this section.  If a graph is needed, it should be in this section.

NOTE: Use a ruler, if not word processed!  Draw a graph when appropriate or requested.  Show all work and answers for all calculations!

15 points

POST-LAB

Conclusions:

In your conclusions, the results should be related back to your hypothesis and explain how the scientific principle being studied was or was not demonstrated by this exercise.  If this laboratory exercise did not support your hypothesis or the related scientific principle, possible errors with your experiment or procedure should be explained in the conclusions section.

If any of the steps given here were to be considered the most important, it would be this one.  DON'T PLAN ON BEING BRIEF!  Elaboration is needed here.  Observations should be analyzed.  Questions of "why?" need to be answered.  Questions from the laboratory activity handout need to be answered completely in this section.  Speculations must be made concerning the agreement or disagreement between the final results and the hypotheses.  When the results do not agree with the accepted value, possible sources of error should be specified.

15 points

Implications for Further Study:

This is always a required part of the lab report and it does require some thought and maybe some research.  This involves a discussion about other methods of approaching the same problem (purpose).   ... Or follow up investigations that could be done on different topics by using the data and results of the current experiment as a basis. *Don't be skimpy here.

15 points