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Full (written) lab reports consist of the following parts

Title Page:

This should be the first (cover) page of the report. When writing the title page of a lab report, the following should be included:

1. The title of the experiment. The title should be descriptive and informative.
2. The student’s name in full.
3. The instructor or person for whom the lab report is being compiled.
4. The date on which the experiment was performed or the date the lab report was written.

Introduction:

The introduction should be an overview of what the experiment is about. Describe in general terms, why you are doing this experiment/assignment (the purpose/objective). What do you hope to learn in the process? What skills can you develop by doing this experiment? Additionally, the hypothesis should be clearly stated. You should identify variables, the control(s) and make a prediction. (*Some experiments may not require a hypothesis)

Materials and Method:

This section should contain a description, in the students own words, of the experimental procedure that was followed in the performance of the experiment as well as the materials and equipment required to carry out the experiment. The materials and methods section should be complete enough so that another student with the same background, but unfamiliar with the experiment, could perform the same experiment without additional instructions. Procedures and the materials/equipment used should be written in a sentence form.

Results:

The result section should contain raw data. Raw data consist of actual measured values recorded during the experiment. Use tables to present this information. All tables should have descriptive titles, and they should show the units of data entries clearly. The data section should also contain any graphs that are required. This is an effective method for communicating experimental results. As a reminder, all graphs should have descriptive titles. These titles should tell what the graph is intended to show. Each axis of a graph should be labeled with the variable and unit it represents. Always use graph paper and always label graph coordinate lines so that it is easy to see how many units each division represents. A figure legend should accompany all tables and/or graphs. A figure legend is a brief statement (1-3 sentences) about the general trend of the graph. The variable(s) and constant (control) should be stated as well. The figure legend may be placed directly below the table/graph or it may be written on a separate piece of paper. Be sure to include the title of the table/graph in the figure legend.

Discussion and Conclusion:

This is the interpretation and conclusion of your report. This section should include the following:

1. What are the major findings of the experiment, what do they mean and how do they relate to the objective/purpose of the experiment.

2. How do the major findings relate to your hypothesis.

3. You should deduce a conclusion(s). The conclusion(s) should be relevant to the experiment that was performed and should be based on facts learned as a result of the experiment (the major findings).

4. You should also include any recommendations that you feel would improve the experimental procedure. If you have any further investigations that might be suggested by the data, you should also include them here.