A lab report is a document that is used to propose a hypothesis, establish an experiment, and present findings pertaining to the experiment. The general purpose of a memo is to persuade an audience to accept your findings and conclusions. A lab report should be thorough and persuasive as you are arguing your findings and conclusion. Audience should also be considered when presenting your report and findings.
A lab report generally consists of this structure:
- Title: Should be informative and interesting to persuade your audience to read the report.
- Abstract: Summarizes the lab report and briefly describes the introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion.
- Introduction: Establishes the hypothesis and relevant background information.
- Materials and methods: Lists the materials used in the experiment along with the procedures taken.
- Results: Summarizes data relevant to the question and hypothesis from the experiment. Data is generally organized into graphs, tables, or graphics. This section presents evidence that supports or refutes your claim.
- Discussion: Interprets the results of the experiment. Important findings are presented and the hypothesis/question is answered.
- Conclusion: 1-2 paragraphs summarizing the main points of the report in a concise fashion. This is also the last chance to persuade the audience by emphasizing your findings and other main points of the report.
- References: Lists all the references cited in the lab report in APA citation format.
- Acknowledgements (optional): Notes any contributions to the lab reports such as assistance and funding.
- Appendix (optional): Additional information in your lab report that is not important for readers to understand the report.
For this assignment, my group members and I wrote individual lab reports on the effectiveness of cool roofs versus green roofs on maintaining internal temperatures of buildings and decreasing energy consumption.
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