A)Each student must use a bound laboratory notebook in which most lab reports will be written. PAGES SHOULD BE NUMBERED IN ADVANCE.

1. Your name and lab period should be on the outside of the book cover.
2. The first page is the table of contents. Each experiment must be listed in the table of contents. Label it like this:
   DATE, TITLE OF EXPERIMENT, PAGE NUMBER
3. All entries must be in INK only. You should have no extra papers or scratch work cluttering the work area.
4. Skip 2 pages before your first lab report. You may use both sides of the page in your book, but make sure each lab report begins on a new page.
   

B) Formal Lab Report:

1. a) Each student must have read the experiment before coming to the lab. You are required to have "TITLE, DATE, LAB PARTNER(S), PURPOSE, HYPOTHESIS PROCEDURE, and any required DATA TABLES" prepared before coming to the lab. I will check pre-labs regularly before you can begin the lab. If you are not prepared for the lab, you will not be allowed to do the experiment, and you will receive an F for that lab report.

   b) All entries must be legible, logically organized, with sufficient space to avoid crowding. Just draw a single line through errors. You may find out later that your were right the first time! NO WHITE OUT. Points will be taken off.

   c) The write-up is due in class the next class meeting after you finish the experiment. Each student must do a lab report, but frequently I will grade one lab per group and everyone in that group will receive the same grade. (Randomly selected)
   

Your lab write-up should consist of:

Name:
Date:
Period:

LAB TITLE (first line, center of the page)

LAB PARTNERS:

PURPOSE: Give 1 sentence describing the "why" of the lab. Always begin the purpose with… "The reason for doing this laboratory exercise is…" and always write a purpose for each lab report IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

HYPOTHESIS: begin the hypothesis with: "It is hypothesized that…" (what is the particular thing that you are looking for or measuring?)

PROCEDURE: OUTLINE in no more than five steps the directions to be followed when carrying out the experiment.

DATA: Data is the information gathered in the lab during the experiment. It may take the form of a GRAPH, PICTURES, DIAGRAMS, NUMERICAL DATE, WRITTEN OBSERVATIONS (either in table form or in a paragraph), DRAWINGS and MODELS. Each lab report will have specific instructions as to how to collect and record data. Data simply states WHAT YOU SEE not "WHY" it happens. Never explain how or why in the data.
CALCULATIONS: Show all arithmetic, including additions, and subtractions, labeled completely. Please BOX your answers.

DISCUSSION: Discussion is the answers to questions on the laboratory experiments. All questions are to be answered in FULL SENTENCES or no credit will be given for your discussion. The discussion questions try to answer the "HOW" and "WHY" for the experiment. The answers to these questions reflect your understanding of the experiment, so this is the most important part of the report and it receives the greatest number of points. Spend time carefully answering these questions.

RESULT: (This only applies to calculations that have a final answer). State the FINAL result. For example, if you had to calculate the percentage of water in a compound, your result would state "The compound contained 33.5% of water."

CONCLUSION: Was your hypothesis supported by the experiment? Explain.

ERROR ANALYSIS: List 3 sources of unavoidable error (mistakes found in the design of the equipment or the instructions of the lab, NOT mistakes you made!), and explain how they could be improved

This lab report format will be used for all formal experiments. Note: please title each sub-section of your report, as I have done above (i.e. Result: and then the information). After you have finished the experiment, the report is to be turned in at the BEGINNING of the next class meeting.

Formal lab reports are usually worth 10 points. They are a major part of your grade, so it is very important that they are turned in, and are on time. You will use 1 point for each day it is late (this includes red AND white days).

C) Informal Lab Reports:

Informal lab reports are generally worth 3-8 points, and only need to include the TITLE, DATE, PARTNER(S), DATA, and answers to the DISCUSSION QUESTIONS. They also must be set up before coming to lab, and included in your composition book, unless specified otherwise.

Remember: Chemistry is a LAB science!