TITLE should be Centered and Descriptive of the Experiment

NAME
DATE
SECTION
INTRODUCTION
This should be written in paragraph form
 State the purpose of the experiment
 Give a one/two sentence summary about how the experiment was done
 Identify the Independent variables, Dependent variables, Constants and control group if there is one
 State the hypothesis that was being tested
MATERIALS
This should be written in bullets
 List ALL materials and equipment that was used in the experiment. Be very specific as to sizes.
o Example do not list: beakers. Instead list: 2 100 ml beakers
PROCEDURE
This should be written with numbered bullets or numbered steps
 Give a step by step process of how to do the experiment.
o The procedure should be detailed enough that someone who is unfamiliar with the lab could
conduct the experiment by following the instructions.
o Use diagrams to help explain when necessary
DATA/ANALYSIS
 Include all data tables, graphs
 Write statements that describe the important data This should be written in
o Overall trends/patterns (positive/negative correlation) paragraphs
o Are there any outliers (data that is way off)
o Is there any data that sticks out the most
 Do not explain or discuss why the results were obtained
CONCLUSION
This should be written in paragraphs
 Restate the hypothesis
 Did the data support or reject the hypothesis
 Use data to show that the experiment supports or rejects the hypothesis
 Name 3-5 sources of error that existed during the experiment and describe ways to eliminate the
sources of error
 Write a statement about what can be concluded from the results of this experiment and who would
find this information useful
 Include a hypothesis for future testing that my answer new questions raised by the results of the
experiment
Remember! NO PERSONAL PRONOUNS

I Me My Mine
Him Her His Hers
He She Himself Herself
You Your Yours Yourself
Our Ours Their They
Us We Them Themselves
Ourselves Myself
Example Scientific Lab Report

Tomato plant growth at different temperatures

Introduction

The purpose of this experiment is to see the effects of different temperatures on the growth of
tomato plants. The experiment was done by growing tomato plant at five different temperatures (10, 20,
30, 40, and 50 degrees Celsius) and measuring the height of the tomato plant. The independent variable is
the different temperatures, the dependent variable is the height of the tomato plant, and the constant
variables are the same soil, same amount of fertilizer, same amount of water and same amount of sunlight.
The hypothesis being tested is if the tomato plant is grown in a warmer temperature, then it will grow
taller.
Materials
 Tomato plants  water
 Potting soil  meter stick
 5 environments of different temperatures  5 tomato pots

Procedure
1. Place potting soil in tomato pots
2. place one tomato pot in each of the 5 different environments
3. Allow the plants to grow for four weeks, watering daily
4. Measure the height of the tomato plants after four weeks
5. ----
6. ----
Data/Results
Growing Environment Tomato Plant Height after 4 weeks
10 degrees Celsius 32 cm
20 degrees Celsius 35 cm
30 degrees Celsius 40cm
40 degrees Celsius 48 cm
50 degrees Celsius 60 cm

 The tallest tomato plant (60cm) grew in the warmest environment (50 degrees Celsius)
 The shortest tomato plant (32cm) grew in the coolest environment (10 degrees Celsius)
 The average height of all plants was 43cm.

Conclusion

The hypothesis being tested was if the tomato plant is grown in a warmer environment then it will
grow taller. The hypothesis was proved correct by the data. The data that proves the hypothesis
correct is, in the 10 degrees Celsius environment the plant only grew 32cm. In the 20 degrees Celsius
environment it grew 35cm ………etc.……….
Possible sources of error include the amount of water given to each plant. Some could have
received more water than others. Another possible source of error is the door to the 20 degrees Celsius
environment was left open overnight which could have affected the environment …….etc………..
The experiment could have been better if tomato plants were grown at even higher temperatures
to see if the plants would still grow taller.
Overall the experiment proves that tomato plants grown between 10 degrees Celsius and 50
degrees Celsius will grow taller in the warmer environment. These results would be useful to farmers who
are trying to grow tall tomato plants. A future experiment may test the hypothesis if tomato plants are
given more sunlight then they will grow taller.