The 10 Parts of a Laboratory Report
Chem AP lab reports are much longer and more in depth than the ones completed in PreAP chemistry. Therefore, it is important that you don’t procrastinate when doing your prelab and postlab work. I will NOT answer last minute questions on the days the pre labs and post labs are due. GET HELP EARLY!!
LATE LABS NOT ACCEPTED!!!!!
Labs not completed in class must be done so at lunch or before or after school!!!!
Pre-Lab Work
(PreLab work is to be completed and turned in on the day the lab is performed. If not completed you will loose all prelab credit which usually totals around 30 points toward the final lab grade…..sometimes even more.)
1. Title The title should be descriptive. “Experiment 5”, for instance, it not a descriptive title.
2. Date This is the date you performed the experiment.
3. Purpose A statement summarizing the “point” of the lab. What are you trying to do?
4. Procedure Outline You will need to write an outline of the procedure. This is BRIEF! Use bulleted statements or outline format to make it easy for me to read. I just want to make sure you know what’s going on in lab.
5. Pre-Lab Questions You will be given some questions to answer before the lab is done. You will need to either rewrite the question or incorporate the question in the answer you give. You MUST use completed sentences. You will not get credit for sentence fragments. The idea here is that when someone (like a college professor) looks at your lab notebook, they should be able to tell what the question was by merely looking at your lab report. I am very serious about this! It is important to produce a good record of your lab work.
6. Data Tables You will need to create any data tables or charts necessary for data collection in the lab.
During the Lab
7. Data Record all your data directly in you book. You are NOT to be recording data on your lab sheet. Label all data clearly and always include proper units of measurement. Underline, use capital letters, or use any device you choose to help organize this section well. Space things out neatly and clearly.
Post-Lab Work
8. Cals and Graphs You should show how calculations are carried out. Your instructor needs to be able to follow you calculations and read your graphs easily. Graphs need to be titled, axis need to be labeled, and units need to be shown on axis. To receive credit for any graphs they must be at least ½ page in size.
9. Conclusions This will vary from lab to lab. You will usually be given direction as to what to write but I expect all conclusions to be well thought out and well written. Again, I expect neat penmanship and complete sentences.
10. Questions Follow the same procedure as for Pre-Lab Questions