AP/IB Lab Report Format IB Students: are required to submit their portfolio of investigations (also called the internal

assessment or practical scheme of work) for moderation (reexamination by an outside source). Therefore, graded labs and instructions must remain in a notebook in the classroom to be sent somewhere in the world in pril of your second year in the !" program. The #$%&'( form serves as a summary of your graded work. )our portfolio of investigations will have completed #$%&'( form at the beginning, a table of contents, and numbered pages. *or +, !" "iology, the practical scheme of work requires about -. hours of lab (this doesn/t include write0up) over 1 years. n interdisciplinary pro2ect, the 34roup # %ro2ect5 must be completed and constitute about 6. lab hours. final summative mark (grade) that ! give you for the internal assessment will reflect the level you have reached7 it is not an average. lso, the final summative mark (grade) will include my assessment of three additional criteria 8anipulative skills 9 %ersonal skills (a) and (b) AP Students: should keep all reports. 'n rare occasions, colleges have asked to see the lab reports to determine college credit. What is Experimentation About? )ou have fiddled with your sub2ects and determined a question worth investigating. Then you developed a hypothesis that you tested. !n the process you may have ad2usted your ideas until you eventually collected data that could answer either your original question or a modification of it. :uring your procedure you chose a variable and watched for a response to it. )ou tried to decide what other factors might detract from the meaning of your collected data. )ou controlled these detractor factors. "ecause you collected some numeric data, you will be able to transform the data to search for more meaning. )ou will then draw conclusions and evaluate the quality of both the data and the procedure of the experiment. ;'( you need to report this process in a formal way< I. LAB REPORT FORMAT

Before you begin writing, do the following things: (6) 4et the notes that you took in this class (1) 4et notes you took as you planned and performed the experiment (=) >ead through this page and talk with your partners about what you think needs to be included in each section of the report00make notes if you want to do so. Once you begin writing, the work should be your own individual best effort. eneral !omments: ll final reports must be typed (except for the recording of raw data). >aw data and observations must be recorded as neatly as possible in blue$black ink when you are doing lab work. !f you type your data later for the final report, attach the raw data and observations recorded in lab as an addendum. !f you record a number in error, mark through it with 6 line (no erasures or whiteout). !nclude chemical reactions in the report, where applicable. :o not write in 6st person singular (don/t use ?!/, ?we/, ?he/, etc@Axample of an appropriate statement< The acid was added to the beaker.) !n your reports, be sure to give references as needed +eading of first page< write ; 8A, : TA, 9 !" B in right0hand corner

Elements of the formal report: (henever you are writing a formal lab report, this format is your default format. &ometimes there will be additional expectations that attend an individual assignment. This report is to be written in sections as indicated below using the language forms indicated. CCCCCCC T!T,A (descriptive) " DE4>'F;: '> !;T>':FDT!'; Axplains observations, information given in class, and previous information that led you to your question. )ou may include reasons for raising the question. !f you changed the question during the course of the experiment, because of what happened or failed to happen, discuss the shift in this section. (rite this section in paragraph form. GFA&T!'; (rite your question in its final form. Fse the interrogati"e form# +)%'T+A&!& Axplain how what you knew led you to your experimental design. Axplain your assumptions and reasoning but not the details of your steps. &pecifically describe the factors that are to be controlled. :escribe what you will watch, measure and use as your criterion. :escribe independent and dependent variables. !f there was a shift of questions discussed above, your hypothesis is to speak to the hypothesis that goes with your final question. Donclude your discussion of the hypothesis with a $onditional statement of your working hypothesis (3!f@, then@5 statement relating independent and dependent variables) 8 TA>! ,& ,ist all materials %not in sentence format) %>'DA:F>A& :escribe the steps that you took as a set of numbered statements# Axplain ad2ustments that you made and the conditions that prompted these ad2ustments. 8ake your description sufficiently clear that ! could repeat your experiment and get the same results that you got. "e certain to include quantities, dimensions, and other measurements that would be helpful to a person trying to repeat your results. %rocedural steps should be numbered and make use of an e$onomy of words# ;ote any safety concerns. &pecifically describe the factors that needed to be controlled including how control was achieved. (hat factors did you monitorH !f this is well covered in your hypothesis or background, do not repeat yourself. :raw a diagram of the experimental plan and refer to the diagram in your description. >A&F,T& Donsists of 1 parts< (label 9 write each individually) %a& 'ata !olle$tion ( Presentation: :ata collected may be quantitative or qualitative Axpress the raw data by using a data $hart# "e careful to report only what was observed (even if unexpected), expressing the observation in measurable terms. :ata tables should be properly formatted with title, labels on columns and rows, and units.

>ecord uncertainties in your measurements ttach raw data to end of report (state that there is an attachment in your report)

%b& 'ata Pro$essing ( Presentation: &how the transformations of this raw data that you used to bring meaning to your observations. To assist you in your interpretation, you may want to process your data by finding averages, I changes, rates, ranges, or medians or modes to see if any patterns pop out. !f the data can be expressed in the form of a graph, do so. :iagrams may be used. ll graphs, tables, etc. should be clearly labeled (axes, title, units), points should be clearly plotted7 graphs may be neatly hand drawn on graph paper, but ! highly recommend you do them on Axcel Dalculations and other transformations should be placed in your paper in an easy to follow manner a$$ording to the style re)uirements of the transformations you have chosen. &how at least one sample calculation of each type 8ake comparisons, note trends D';D,F&!';& :iscuss how your results answer the question in terms of your hypothesis# :iscuss sources of error and the limitations of your conclusions. >esolve any alterations in the question or hypothesis sections. !n this section you are evaluating your data and its interpretation. (rite this section in paragraph form. (here applicable, compare experimentally determined results with literature value7 note reference (here applicable, calculate I error AJ ,F T!'; >eview and evaluate the procedures you used. Axplain how the procedure was successful as well as how the procedures may have led to error. &uggest modifications to the design of the procedure that would have led to more reliable results and greater validity of conclusions. (rite this section in paragraph form. CCCCCCC II. ASSESSMENT ,ab reports will be evaluated according to K assessment criteria. ;ot all criteria will be assessed for all labs. *or each evaluated criterion, you will be awarded .0= points. ttached is a sample grade sheet outlining the criteria for each category and the achievement matrix for determining point values. The point values will be recorded on the #$%&'( form at the end of your 1 nd year.

The teacher will use this grid for assessing a report for !" criteria when it is turned in
%l (a) %l (b) :D hypothesis procedure :%% DA 8& %& (a) team %& (b) indiv

!n addition, a class grade will also be given based on your ability to apply the processes for each !" criteria and timely completion of the report. The grade will be entered in my gradebook for averaging to determine term grades.