1. Title: Use key words
referring to factual content.
2a. Purposes:
The instructor will guide you
and itemize purposes on the screen, since purposes are
often vaguely expressed in lab books.
2b. Hypothesis:
We will advise you on this.
2c. Introduction
Write up some background information on the subject of
your report. This should "clue in" other science students
who would like to understand why we did the lab. It
also helps them understand the rest of your report.
The introduction should clearly explain the nature of
the problem being investigated (although our purposes
usually cover this). The method should be generally
referred to in one or two sentences, indicating WHY the
method was selected or why a certain species was used.
Do not forget to list at least one reference you read.
You are to place the author and the date in brackets
immediately after any group of sentences in your
background information that refer to that author's
publication. At the end of your report, write a full
list of references.
Example:
Miller, R.R. and Levine, J. 1995. Biology. 3rd ed. Pages ____. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
3. Materials and methods:
List your materials. Write one paragraph,
using the past tense, on generally what and how the lab was done.
Describe how any special equipment was used. A drawing of
the equipment may also be requested. Don't copy detailed
procedures but cite the text pages or handout where the
lab is. The methods should show how you obtained your results.
4. Results
A true formal report saves the
implications for the discussion. However, in high school,
it has been valuable to include brief interpretations to go
alongside observations. This provides focus.
Data and Diagrams
Write out your observations
and brief interpretations in a chart form. This, along
with your purposes, will guide you for what to write later in
the discussion.
Instructions:
Draw a vertical line down the middle of a page
as soon as you begin a lab. This focuses you and your
partner on the significance of observing carefully. The
interpretations try to explain the why's of each observation.
Example:
Observations
Interpretations
1. The frog's skin is covered with a dense
network of blood vessels
1. The blood vessels would branch to capillaries to
absorb oxygen by diffusion as the frog breathes
through its skin
2.
2.
3.
3.
You can use your text and interactive lecture notes
to help with the interpretations. Sometimes, an interpretation
is only an hypothesis, based on your common knowlege. It
can also be a combination of ideas in your thinking. At
least try to make an educated guess!!!
Note:
Include labelled graphs, when applicable
Diagrams:
Use blank white paper and pencil. Include a caption and
label it carefully in ink. Sometimes, calculations are included (ex: cell size)
5. Discussion:
The discussion should not just be a restatement of
your results and what you or your teacher did.
The discussion tries to explain the reasons for your
results and relates the data to theory and knowlege
gained in the interactive lectures. Look back on the
purposes and see if you accomplished our goals. Explain.
Reread your lecture notes and text.
The main idea is to show relationship among the
observations to explain them.
Ex: The heartbeat in a
water flea (Daphnia) goes up at first when a Hydra comes
near the end, then goes back down.
Relate these results
to what you learned about the Daphnia.
Finish your discussion with a brief conclusion. Check
to see if you have words like "because" in your discussion.
Write concisely. Don't be afraid to speculate as long
as you identify it as a speculation.
