Lab Report Format


Labs are an extremely important and helpful part of the climate course in that they require you to think in depth and detail about its material on a regular basis. While each lab may differ slightly in its mechanics, below are outlined some general recommendations for completing each lab and its associated lab report which will facilitate the exercise for both you and the people evaluating your lab reports.


BEFORE LAB:

Read through the instructions for the lab exercise.

Ask yourself:


AT LAB:

Work through the exercise. Consider the answers to any questions asked in the exercise as notes for the scientific essay you will hand in.

As you work through the exercise, you should constantly be asking yourself:


LAB REPORT FORMAT:

After each lab you will complete a 1-2 page report carefully constructed to express your major observations and findings. Keep in mind the comprehensive and detailed format you may have encountered in lab reports for other science courses: could someone duplicate your experiments upon reading your report? The brevity of your report requires that you attempt a concise writing style, touching only upon your most important observations and results. Nevertheless, you must also present as much supporting detail as is necessary to support your conclusions and allow the reader to understand the logic by which you obtained them.

Think of the report as a scientific essay. It will have a title and sections containing:

A brief description of what should be included in each of these sections is included below.


AFTER WRITING YOUR ESSAY: