Science Lab Reports Made Easy
Last updated
Last updated
Almost all of the science subjects require the students to write a formal lab report. The purpose of this exercise is to judge the practical knowledge of the students. It is also about what the students have learned in the course of their studies and what their findings are. But please remember that there are no shortcuts to this exercise. All the students are required to make notes and record their readings and observations. Different subjects have different methods and patterns for their reports.
However, there is a general pattern that may help a newbie essay writer . Following is the 5-step guide that you can follow for general understanding:
First comes the title of your report. It reflects the purpose of the experiment that you have conducted. For this, you need to check in with your teacher or lab supervisor for the pattern of title followed in your college or university.
Next comes the abstract. I focus on this part the most as I write my essay. It provides a brief overview of the experiment, including its findings and conclusions. In general the abstract should answer six questions:
Why was the experiment conducted? (big-picture/real-world view).
What specific problem/research question was being addressed?
What methods were used to solve the problem/answer the question?
What results were obtained?
What do these results mean?
How do they answer the overall question or improve our understanding of the problem?
After that comes the body of the report. It has four more parts: the introduction, the methods used, results and analysis, and discussions on the findings of the experiment.
The Introduction should provide the context and motivation for the experiment briefly explain relevant theory in sufficient detail. It also introduces any relevant laws, equations or theorems. In the end, it clearly states the aim or research question that the experiment is designed to address and avail essay writing service
The method section is where you describe what you actually did. It includes the procedure that was followed. This should be a report of what you actually did, not just what was planned.
In results and analysis, you present the main data collected during your experiment. Each key measurement needs to be reported appropriately. Data is often presented in graphs, figures or tables. This section often also includes analysis of the raw data, such as calculations. In some disciplines the analysis is presented under its own heading, in others it is included in the results section. An analysis of the errors or uncertainties in the experiment is also usually included in this section.
The discussion section is where you comment on the results you obtained and interpret what the results mean. It explains any results which are unexpected. Note that your discussion section should demonstrate how well you understand what happened in the experiment and can go for the best essay writing services
The second last part of the lab report is the conclusion. It provides a take-home message summing up what has been learned from the experiment. There are four points that must be taken care of while writing down your conclusion paragraph for the report.
Briefly restate the purpose of the experiment (the question it was seeking to answer)
Identify the main findings (answer to the research question)
Note the main limitations that are relevant to the interpretation of the results
Summarise what the experiment has contributed to your understanding of the problem.
Last come the references that are used in the report. When in-text citations are incorporated into your lab report, you must always have the full citations included in a separate reference list. The reference list is a separate section that comes after your conclusion (and before any appendices).
Other Useful Resources :
What is meant by Critical Analysis?
