How to Write an IB Science Lab Report

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How to Write an IB Science Lab Report

IB Sciences @ Ruamrudee IS

(revised 6 August 2014)

General
Science is done and learnt through laboratory experiences. So, in general, 20-40% of your class time
will be spent doing something related to practical work. These investigations may take just part of a
lesson, a few days or even a couple of weeks. Usually, you will be working in a group of 2-3 people,
occasionally on your own! You may be given detailed instructions or you may have to design the
entire experiment. For some experiments you will write complete reports; other reports may involve
only data presentation/analysis and a brief conclusion. In some cases, your group may be required to
orally communicate your findings using Google presentation slides or posters.
Your lab notes are where the raw data are recorded at the time of the experiment - lab note book or
yellow data sheet. You may be required to submit your raw data.
When you are writing your lab report, keep this thought in mind: could someone else understand
what I am doing, observing, calculating, writing etc? A scientists report is the way that scientific
discovery is communicated to the rest of the world. You must always consider that there will be an
audience for your report (right now the audience is your teacher - and maybe the world wide web but someday it might be some scientific journal editor checking the validity of your results and
techniques). Your lab report should also be written in the Third Person or passive voice. Dont say
I want to , or I will be .
The table below shows the components of a full lab report. Details are discussed in the next section.
Name, Class, Date, Title
Introduction and Experimental Design
Research Question
Background Information
Hypothesis (if appropriate)
Variables
Protocol Diagram
Method
Materials
Procedure
Safety, Ethical, and Environmental
Issues
Data Presentation, Processing, and Analysis
Conclusion and Evaluation
References/Citations
A Complete Lab Report will include:
1. Your Full Name (nickname in brackets), Class, Date, and Title of the experiment.
You need to specify 2 titles:
your teachers reference lab title as it appears in the lab handout
your own original title based on your own investigation focus.
2. Introduction and Experimental Design: This section should always begin with a clearly
stated Research Question. The Research Question should not just be a repeat of the general
problem provided by the teacher. Rather, your Research Question should indicate what specific
aspect of the general problem you will be investigating. Thus it has to be focused and specific.

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The next step is to provide the Background Information to the problem you are trying to
solve. Specifically, this is the body of knowledge one should know to understand the experiment.
This information must be targeted at and focused on the problem rather than being a general
account of the topic matter. The Background will also lead to, or justify a prediction of what you
think will happen in the experiment. This prediction is expressed as a Hypothesis and is
written as a testable statement directly related to the Research Question about what you think is
going to happen when you measure one variable and you change another. The hypothesis
statement is followed by a brief explanation or rationale.
This leads to the last part of the Introduction. You need to specifically mention the Variables
that you will control. That is, the variables that you will change and measure; independent (IV),
dependent (DV), and fixed/controlled (CV). A few notes on these variables:
IV - must be quantified and at least 5 increments
DV - may be a directly measured factor or a calculated value that is
either the specified effect in the research question or can be used to derive the
specified effect
CV - must be environmental factors instead of procedural controls
Draw and label a Protocol Diagram which shows the strategy used to setup different
increments of the IV as well as the technique used to measure the DV. Make sure to show how
control group(s) differ(s) from experimental group(s). Also include any period of time for
equilibration of equipment, fluids, organisms, or any time for incubation or reaction/response to
take place. The inclusion of time periods should also be included in your written procedure. You
do not have to include and/or label all the materials used.
3. Method: This section provides an outline of how you carried out the experiment and
controlled the variables you have identified. Start with a list of Materials, specifying the
quantities (mass, volume, and concentrations with correct SI units) of chemicals and solutions,
quantities and types/capacities of glassware, type/model of equipment, and the quantities of
specimens (tissues, organisms).
Write the Procedure so that you, or someone else with some science background, could
perform/repeat the experiment. Use numbered or bulleted lists, or a flow chart. If the procedure
is elaborate and requires many related steps, divide it into sections with corresponding subheadings, like Preparing the agar cubes, Setting up the apparatus. Use command form and do
not use pronouns. Dont forget the quantities and the correct units. You should emphasize how
you are keeping certain variables fixed, while changing others. Where appropriate, it is
important to outline why one approach is taken versus another.
Keep in mind to clearly mention what specific data will be recorded and how many repetitions the
measurements will be taken. As a rule of thumb, the lower limit is five measurements within the
IV, with three runs (trials) for each. This will produce five data points for analysis. This may vary
with the limits of the time available for an investigation. Some simple investigations permit a
large number of measurements, or a large number of runs. It is also possible to use class data to
generate sufficient replicates to permit adequate processing of the data in non-assessed practical
work.
Record the necessary Safety, Ethical, and/or Environmental Issues encountered in the
experiment. Describe what you did to make sure that precautions were taken. Refer to RIS
Science Laboratory Safety Guidelines, IB Guidelines for the Use of Animals in the Classroom,
and/or the MSDS information sheet that comes with the material shipment.
4. Data Presentation, Processing and Analysis: This section of the report provides evidence
that you have selected, recorded, processed and interpreted the data in ways that are relevant to
the research question and can support a conclusion.

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Record all relevant quantitative and qualitative data and observations and the relevant
uncertainties. Report any changes in procedure or unusual conditions. All numerical data, tables,
and graphs should be clearly identified and labeled. You should record all observed data not
just calculated results.
Results are different than data. Results are what happens to the data after you do a calculation or
plot a graph. They are what results after you process the data. Your presentation of the results
might be in the form of a table, a graph, or maybe a pie chart. How you present the results will
depend on the experiment these are part of the skills you need to learn. That is, how to take a
mumbo jumbo of data and after some calculations and transformations, present the outcome in a
way that allows a clear interpretation of the experiment.
The methods used to process the data should be easy to follow. Write a short paragraph to give an
overview of how and why you decided to process and present the data in the way that you did.
Then show how you manipulated the data i.e. what sort of calculations you did. A brief
explanation of what you are doing at each stage of the calculation is just as important as the
calculation itself. Finally, where several similar calculations are needed, show one example and
give the results of the others.
Tables are designed to lay out the data ready for analysis. Points to note are:
the table should have an explanatory title.
appropriate SI units should only appear in cell headings rather than in the
body of the table
error for the instrument used or the accuracy of the reading should appear in
the cell heading if relevant
the independent variable should be in the first column
subsequent columns should show the results for the dependent variable
decimal places should be consistent throughout a column
mean values should not have more decimal places than the raw data used to
produce them
the processed data may be included in the same table as the raw data, there is
no need to separate them.
Graphs should be clear, easy to read and interpret with an explanatory title. If IT software is
used it should have clearly identifiable data points and demarcated and labelled axes of a suitable
scale. Other points to note are:
data points should be joined by a straight line between points; no extrapolation
extrapolation of the line will only make sense if there is a large amount of data
and a line of best fit is predicted or there is reference made to the literature values.
lines of best fit are only useful if there is good reason to believe that
intermediate points fall on the line between two data points.
the type of graph chosen should be appropriate to the nature of the data
collected. When you construct a line graph, follow these guidelines:
Dependent variable is on the y-axis.
Independent variable is on the x-axis.
Scale divisions should be simple; intervals should be uniform.
LABEL THE AXES! Make sure you include the UNITS.
Dont forget the graph NUMBER and TITLE (should be
informative)

Statistical tools should be used as appropriate.

The standard deviation is the spread of the data around the mean.
Error bars which plot the highest and the lowest value for a test, joined up through the
mean which will form the data point plotted on the graph with a vertical line, will allow the
variation/uncertainty for each data set to be assessed.

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If trend lines are possible, then adding the coefficient of determination (R 2) can be
helpful as an indication of how well the trend line fits the data.
You are encouraged to use a statistical test to assess your data, but you should briefly
explain your choice of test, outline the working hypothesis and put the results of the test into
the context of your investigation. The correct protocol should be presented including null and
alternative hypotheses, degrees of freedom, critical values and probability levels.
5. Conclusion and Evaluation: This section should include:
Conclusion: This is a paragraph subsection in which you address the results of your
experiment with respect to your research question.
States the quantitative or qualitative relationship
Correctly interprets the graph of the data
Includes relevant calculated values to support conclusion
Includes some elaboration/mechanism based on the science being
learned
Compares results to a reference value; includes the source of the
reference value
Discussion of errors and limitations of experimental design: This subsection
discusses how well (or not) the experimental design helped address the research question.
Must comment on the quality of the results, do they make sense?
Identifies anomalous results/outliers where appropriate
If you did a statistical test, what did the results of that test show?
Prioritizes errors and suggests where they came from
Utilizes the ideas of systematic and random errors in the discussion
Indicate what effect the error(s) would have on the results
Human errors are not acceptable if could have been avoided.
Suggestions for improvement: This subsection should correspond to the
errors/limitations being discussed.
Identifies weaknesses in the experiment and suggests realistic
suggestions for improvement
Improvements should help to eliminate/minimize/mitigate the errors
previously identified.
Must show good reflective thinking and insight.
A few more notes on Error and Uncertainty:
There are sources of error at a number of stages of any investigation. The chosen method
should try to avoid as many errors as possible by considering the control of variables. But
despite this, many will remain.
You should not be discouraged by this, experimental results are only samples, but rather
take them into consideration when analyzing the data and drawing conclusions. A
thorough evaluation of the sources of uncertainty and error will also help to gain
perspective on the investigation in general and to suggest potential improvements and
extensions.
Take the following points into account:
Random variation or normal variation can be minimized by careful selection
of material and by careful control of variables. For example, use of a water bath to
reduce the random fluctuations in ambient temperature.
Human errors - making mistakes is not an acceptable source of error if they
could have been easily avoided with more due care and attention.
Be aware of how the act of measuring may affect the environment of the
experiment.

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Systematic errors can be reduced if equipment is regularly checked or

calibrated to ensure that it is functioning correctly.
Degrees of precision and uncertainty in data For the degrees of precision, the simplest rule is that the degree
of precision is plus or minus () the smallest division on the instrument (the
least count). This is true for rulers and instruments with digital displays.
The instrument limit of error is usually no greater than the least
count and is often a fraction of the least count value. For example, a burette or
a mercury thermometer is often read to half of the least count division. This
would mean that a burette value of 34.1 cm3 becomes 34.10 cm3 (0.05 cm3).
Note that the volume value is now cited to one extra decimal place so as to be
consistent with the uncertainty.
The estimated uncertainty takes into account the concepts of
least count and instrument limit of error, but also, where relevant, higher
levels of uncertainty as indicated by an instrument manufacturer which is
usually obtainable online, or qualitative considerations such as parallax
problems in reading a thermometer scale, reaction time in starting and
stopping a timer, or random fluctuation in an electronic balance read-out. You
should do your best to quantify these observations into the estimated
uncertainty.
Other protocols exist and no specific protocol is preferred as
long as it is clear that recording of uncertainties has been undertaken and the
uncertainties are of a sensible and consistent magnitude.