Help with essays - Types of Essays

The Science Lab Report

The scientific report takes on various formats and the exact format will depend on the professor's requirements. In formal reports the first section is called the Abstract and is a one paragraph summary of the whole experiment including results. In all sections the writing is done in the passive voice. This will offend your grammar checker if you use one in your word processing program. The passive voice removes the subject from the sentence in most cases. Chemical A was mixed with chemical B; not We mixed chemical A with Chemical B.

Thesis (Hypothesis) or Introduction

In science we call the thesis the hypothesis. Although the words have different roots and slightly different meanings, they essentially have the same function in your writing. The Hypothesis is the thing which your experiment is testing. It is usually worded as the effect of one thing on another thing. The significance of this effect is part of the discussion. Sometimes the hypothesis is stated as a single sentence in a separate section. Other times it can be included in a section entitled Introduction in which background information and the general theory behind the hypothesis are presented.

Methods or Methods and Materials

Some formats include materials and methods together; some formats keep them separate. The important thing is this is where the description of all activities is made. Someone should be able to read this section and reproduce your experiment. It is important to be very detailed: what size beakers were used, what was the temperature of water, what was the room temperature, what was the atmospheric pressure? Try to be very detailed in your observations of conditions under which the experiment was undertaken. Whether the hypothesis ends up being proven or not proven, the details of the conditions will be important for the discussion.

Results

This is usually a chart or brief presentation of data collected. Minimal discussion of results happens in the Results section; save the discussion for the Discussion section. Don't forget that for all measurements, an estimate of uncertainty is important. This must be shown in any calculations. Additionally, in Biological Sciences especialy, calculations of probability are necessary to show whether or not the result is significant.

Discussion

Was the hypothesis proven? If not, why not. What were the important factors in the experiment? What further experimentation does this suggest? How could the experiment be refined to obtain better results?

What is the marker looking for?

Despite your hopes, science students, clear writing and good grammar will help you get a good mark. Unfortunately many science graduate students and even professors don't know grammatical rules very well. However, you may end up with someone like me who did an English degree before doing a Science degree and who will mark you down for grammatical faults. However the most important thing in the formal lab report is that you show that you understand the concept of the experiment, what the essential elements were and how they came into play during the experiment. Even if the experiment was a failure (ie the hypothesis was not proven when you know it should have been) you can still achieve a high grade by a proper examination of the factors which were important in the experiment.