Tips+for+Lab+Notebooks

=HINTS/GUIDELINES FOR GOOD LAB REPORTS/NOTEBOOKS=

General
• Use the left page of the notebook for scratch work and the right page for what you want graded. • Make sure you have all components present. • Fill out the title, date, question, background information, and data tables BEFORE you get to experiment day. Make sure to save a space for you procedure section. • Have one lab partner in charge of recording the procedure and data and the other partner conduct the experiment and share what was written at the end of the class period. • Write in the 3rd person, no “I”, “we”, or “you” anywhere. No exceptions

Procedure
• List materials used • Explain what you did in the sequence as you did it • Be clear, detailed, and concise • Explain any deviations from your procedure

Observations
• Be detailed and specific • Use your senses (safely!) • Use the instrumentation provided • Write it all down! You never know what might be a crucial observation and it’s very easy to forget details of an experiment after it’s over.

Tables & Graphs
• Choose an appropriate format to display your data • All tables and graphs must have a title and labeled axes • Make sure you include proper units and numbers rounded to the proper significant digits • Explain what the graph or table tells you; interpret the data

Discussion (Conclusion)
• What did you learn from the experiment? • Do you have any remaining questions? • Any further investigations you would like to do?

When someone reads your report, they should know:
-What question was asked -What you did -What you found out -What are the remaining questions or further investigating

Here is the Word document version of this information if you want to cut/paste it into your notebook.