Lab Report Format

Not every lab will require a written lab report. But for the labs that do, it is
important that you follow the basic format that is given on this sheet. Each lab
report should consist of these nine minimal things:
1. Header
 At the top left of your paper, you need to include your name,
teacher’s name, the class, and the date.
2. Title
 The title should come after your header and should be centered on
the page.
3. Problem
 The problem is the first section of your lab report. It should only be 1-
3 sentences long. Tell me what problem we were trying to solve in
the lab.
4. Hypothesis
 The hypothesis should follow the problem but is a separate section. It
should only be 1-3 sentences long. Tell me what your hypothesis was
for the solution to the lab problem.
5. Materials
 Materials follow the hypothesis section. It should include EVERY
material that was used throughout the lab. These materials should be
listed in BULLET POINTS!
6. Methods
 The methods section follows the materials. This is where you tell me
how you completed the lab. You do NOT present this information in a
number step way. The methods are always written in paragraph
form. The methods section can be 1-2 paragraphs long depending on
the length of the lab.
7. Calculations (if applicable)
 If there are calculations necessary for the lab experiment, it follows
the methods section. Any problems required by the lab are worked
out in this section. You must show all your work for all the necessary
calculations.
8. Results
 The results section follows the methods or sometimes the
calculations section. The results section is where you include any
 tables, charts, and/or graphs. This is simply where you present your
results. You do NOT discussion the results in this section!
9. Conclusion
 The conclusion is the final section of a lab report. It contains FOUR
SEPARATE PARAGRAPHS!!!
i. The first paragraph is where you discuss what you discovered
in the lab. Tell me what you learned. This is a paragraph so it
should be at least 5 sentences long.
ii. The second paragraph is where you state whether you
hypothesis was correct or wrong and why. Remember, it is
perfectly fine to be wrong. Just tell me why. This is a paragraph
so it should be at least 5 sentences long.
iii. The third paragraph is where you discuss possible errors that
could have occurred throughout your lab that might have
thrown off your results. Include things that you would do
differently to improve on the lab if you had to do the lab again.
iv. The fourth and final paragraph is always saved for answering
any post-lab questions that I have assigned you. You do not
write, “The answer to the first problem is blah, blah, blah.” You
should restate the problem I asked you, then proceed to
answer the question(s) in paragraph form. This is a paragraph
so it should be at least 5 sentences long.

The following pages include a fake example of a Lab Report with a good format to
follow.
Joe Montana
Miss G
Science
2-12-18
Football Velocity Lab
Problem: The problem of this lab was to determine the average velocity at which
the top ten NFL quarterback throws a football.
Hypothesis: My hypothesis is that the average velocity of a thrown football from
the top ten NFL quarterbacks will exceed 45 mph but not over 55 mph.
Materials:
 Top ten NFL quarterbacks
 Footballs
 Radar gun
 Pencils
 Paper
 Calculator
Methods:
The first thing that I did for this lab was call up the top ten NFL
quarterbacks and asked them to travel to Haviland, OH to participate in this
study. They all happily obliged and caught the first plane out of town. After all the
quarterbacks arrived, I first got each of their autographs and a group selfie. After
all the important things were taken care of, I had each quarterback go through
their warm-ups to get their arms loosened for the trials. Next, I randomly selected
one quarterback by drawing their name out of a hat. This quarterback was asked
was to throw the football as fast as he could as I clocked him with the radar gun. I
then recorded his velocity on my data sheet. I repeated the same steps nine more
times with the same quarterback for a total of ten throws. This entire procedure
was repeated with the remaining nine quarterbacks.
Calculations:
Average = (sum of all velocities)/number of velocities
Ex) (55+57+60+52+61+57+58+54+59+58) / 10 = 57.1 mph
Results:
Throw
Player 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Avg.
J.G.
P.M.
T.R.
A.L.
T.B.
E.M.
M.S.
J.M.
R.W.
Overall Avg. 58.2

Conclusion:
In this lab, I found out the average velocity of a thrown football from the
top ten NFL quarterbacks was 58.2 mph. This is faster than most speed limits!
Would you have ever thought that football was travelling faster than your bus on
the way to school? The athletic ability of these NFL athletes to thrown a 15 to 16
ounce ball this speed is unbelievable! That is why they are paid the big buck.
My hypothesis was proven to be incorrect. I expected the average velocity
to be over 45 mph but not over 55 mph. I was wrong by 3.2 mph. I greatly
underestimated the abilities of these extraordinary professionals. The training
required to reach these levels must be excruciating.
Every lab experiment has its errors. If I could do this lab over again, there
are many things I would do differently. I would have the quarterbacks make more
than ten throws to improve the accuracy. This would ensure a fluke wouldn’t
skew the results. I would also like to build upon this lab by doing future research
on throwing velocity at the college level and compare it to the professional level.
The averages were all relatively similar to one another. The highest average
at 61 mph was thrown by Jimmy Garoppolo from the San Francisco 49ers. While
the lowest average at 52 mph was thrown by the 49ers arch nemesis, Russell
Wilson from the Seattle Shehawks. Just add it to the long list of why San Francisco
is better than that nasty team up north. Niner Nation!!!