IB Group 4 Lab Report Guide

Lab reports make up 24% of your final grade.

This is a guide to help you with your lab reports. Use it!
I. Parts of a Lab (IA) Report
1. Introdution!
a. title
b. aim
. researh "uestion#hypothesis
d. $ariables
e. ontrol of $ariables
2. %aterials & %ethods
a. materials
b. method
'. (ata
a. raw data
b. unertainty
. presentation )tables*
4. +esults#,onlusion
a. proessing data
b. -raphs
.. (isussion
a. ,onlusion
b. /$aluation
0. +eferenes
II. IA Description
A. Design
I. Research Question
+ather than an 1im and 2ypothesis you need to start your (esign pratials with a foused researh
"uestion. 1 (esign pratial has a title that is deliberately $ague. 3ou4 the student4 are e5peted to
ome up with the independent $ariable. Use the independent $ariable and the dependent $ariable to
phrase your researh "uestion. 3ou should also inlude a brief desription of your e5periment.
/g. 6hat is the effet of a hanging gluose onentration on ell respiration in yeast7 8i$e different
onentrations of gluose )9.9 %4 9.2. %4 9..9%4 9.:.% and 1%* will be used to see how the
growth of yeast hanges. The growth of yeast will be measured by the amount of ,;2 produed
whih is an indiation of the amount of ell respiration taking plae. It is e5peted that inreasing
the gluose onentration will inrease the amount of ,92 produed whih will suggest that the rate
of ell respiration has inreased.
II. Hpothesis
6hile a hypothesis isn<t needed and sometimes it<s not possible4 usually in biology you will ha$e a
hypothesis. If you inlude a hypothesis to help fous your researh "uestion then it needs to be an
=if>.then>? statement that inludes the independent and dependent $ariables. 3our hypothesis should
be supported with an e5planation.
/g. If the gluose onentration is inreased4 then the amount of ,92 produed will also inrease. This
is beause gluose is used by yeast to make 1T@ through ellular respiration. The more gluose that
is a$ailable4 the faster the rate of ell respiration4 and the more ,92 that will be produed. ,92 is a
produt of ell respiration in yeast4 so the more ,92 the faster the rate of ell respiration.
III. !ariab"es
+emember to orretly ategoriAe your $ariables and think of as many ontrolled $ariables as you an.
That said4 don<t inlude ontrolled $ariables that aren<t signifiant. 8or e5ample if you<re measuring the
growth of yeast then the temperature definitely needs to be ontrolled )assuming temperature is not your
independent $ariable* but the same loation is not going to be a signifiant fator. 8or those who an<t
reall or ha$e ne$er learnt how to ategoriAe $ariables!
Independent! The $ariable that 3;U hange.
(ependant! The $ariable that hanges when you hange the independent $ariable )what you
measure*.
,ontrolled! 1ll the aspets of the e5periment that must be kept onstant to ensure that the
tests#e5periment is fair. There will be se$eral of these not Bust one!

%ake sure that you hoose only one independent $ariable to hange. Come people inad$ertently
hoose more than one.
I!. #ontro" of !ariab"es
3our must e5pliitly indiate how eah ontrolled $ariable identified in your $ariables setion was
ontrolled. If you an<t ati$ely ontrol a $ariable then your method should inlude a means of
monitoring it.
!. $ateria"s
In a (esign pratial you need to hoose the apparatus and submit an e"uipment re"uest. %ake sure you
plan thoroughly and don<t lea$e anything out. If you need something e5tra that you didn<t put on your
list it will be pro$ided but you will reei$e a partial for the first aspet of this riterion. The same thing
applies if you =borrow? from another group. ;f ourse if you try and persist with what you ha$e but I
an see that it<s learly not enough4 well that<s a partial too.
%ake sure when writing up your e"uipment list that you inlude!
D The siAes of glassware suh as beakers4 flasks4 et.
D The onentration of hemials )eg hydrohlori aid4 2.9 %*.
D The amounts of hemials )eg magnesium4 9..9 g*.
D The range of a thermometer )eg E29F, to 129F,*
D The amount of eah solution )eg 299 mL*
!I. $ethod
3ou will write your own method4 I won<t supply one for you to =opy?. Use =impersonal language?G
whih means no words suh as =I?4 =we?4 =they?4 =you? et.
/g! =I weighed out 9..9 g of magnesium and then I added 2.9 m' of 2% hydrohlori aid?
should be rewritten as =1dd 9.. g magnesium to 299 m' of 2% hydrohlori aid?

%ake sure you reord the amounts of materials to a suffiient preision in your method.
/g! If you weighed 29 g of magnesium using a $olumetri pipette this should be reorded as 29.99 g
and not Bust 29 g.
6hy7 Because the scale has a precision of two decimal points

(on<t inlude =ob$ious? steps in your methods. Cteps suh as!

=ollet and put on safety e"uipment?
=lean up benh and return apparatus to the trolley?
These steps would be rele$ant to pretty muh any e5periment and so don<t need to be inluded.

6hile writing up your method in =dot point? or numbered form is aeptable4 real sientists atually
write their methods in paragraph form E try it.

3our method must e5pliitly indiate how eah ontrolled $ariable identified in your $ariables setion
was ontrolled. If you an<t ati$ely ontrol a $ariable then your method should inlude a means of
monitoring it.
Cometimes the best thing to do for your method is to draw a diagram of the e5perimental set up and
refer to it. That<s fine if you do a diagram that is of a suitable siAe and reasonably detailed. (on<t sketh
some doodle on the bak of your report two minutes before you<re about to hand it in. Helow on the left
is a poor e5ample of a diagram. ;n the right is a $ersion of the same e"uipment done well using a basi
drawing program.
Truly4 I wish I had a dollar for e$ery report where I<$e seen!
=1. Cet up the e"uipment as shown below!?
only to see below a big blank spae. If you intend to draw in a diagram make sure you don<t lea$e it
to the last minute and forget. I<m sure this happens beause people write up at home4 bring it to
shool and two minutes before its due to be handed up print it off in a pani. Io doubt this is also
the ause of many of the sloppy diagrams referred to in the pre$ious point. 1 missing diagram will
mean an automati partial on the seond aspet.
6hen designing a method ensure that you hange the independent $ariable enough times to ollet
enough points for a reasonable line of best fit. 1 minimum of fi%e data points is re"uired for any graph
and more should be olleted if time and materials allow.
,onsider whether or not the graph needs many data points or whether more repeating would be more
worthwhile. If the graph has a omple5 shape e.g. a titration or ooling ur$e4 then the more points the
better. If the graph is linear then repeating the e5periment for eah point would be a better way to
impro$e the orrelation oeffiient than simply olleting more points )assuming you already ha$e J E
19 points*.
The method should inlude suffiient repeats of trials to ensure that random errors are at least
minimised. (on<t lea$e this for your e$aluation as repeating the e5periment is a pretty lame suggestion
E doubly so if you should ha$e had it in your method in the first plae.
B. Data co""ection and processing
I. Data (Ra&)
There are se$eral aspets to data olletion. (on<t o$erlook any of the following!
D Kuantitati$e data )i.e. numerial $alues*
D Kualitati$e data )i.e. obser$ations*
D Unertainties in apparatus
It is $ery ommon for the seond of these to be forgotten E and that<s an automati partial!
(o not reord raw data on the task sheet thinking =I<ll write up the neat opy later?. If you hoose to
reord it =rough? on the bak of the task sheet it will be marked as your data olletion. Ideally you
should reord your data in a lab book dediated to that purpose. 3ou are permitted to then type it up
neatly for your report.
(on<t mi5 "uantitati$e and "ualitati$e data in the same olumn. Cometimes it is appropriate to reord
"ualitati$e data in a table and sometimes not. Usually it<s pretty lear when to do whih.
%ake sure you reord all of your +16 data. 1lthough4 raw data and proessed data ,1I be in the
same table4 but this would re"uire you head the setion as (1T1#+/CULTC
/g! If you are interested in the hange in temperature of a reation reord the
Initial and final temperature.
Initial Temp )F, L 9..F,*! 1J
8inal Temp )F, L 9..F,*! 4M
Temp ,hange )F, L 1.9F,*! '1
The temperature hange is a result of data proessing and annot be reorded as raw data.
II. 'ncertaint
The unertainty for a piee of apparatus is either printed on the apparatus )eg burette4 $olumetri
glassware* or is half the smallest measurable or ited $alue.
/g! If a balane an measure to two deimal plaes )9.91 g* then the error in a mass reading with
this balane is L9.99. g.
1n e5eption to the unertainty being half the smallest instrument $alue is when using a stopwath.
1ording to the display you an measure time to the nearest 199th of a seond )9.91 s* with our
stopwathes. Hased on this the unertainty would be L9.99. s E but somehow I doubt your refle5es are
this good. 1 more reasonable $alue would be L9.. seonds.
III. Data tab"e Presentation
6hen preparing your tables you must address the following to ensure you reei$e a complete for the
presentation aspet!
D The units must be inluded. They should be ited ;I,/ in brakets in eah olumn heading.
(on<t put the units after eah piee of data.
D The unertainty of the "uantitati$e data and the units of the unertainty need to be reorded one
in the olumn heading )see e5ample below*.
D 1ll data in a olumn must be gi$en to the same number of deimal plaes
D Tables and olumns need border
D The data in a olumn needs to be entered in the olumn.
D The table needs a suitable and desripti$e heading )=Table 1?4 =(ata ,olletion? or =+esults? are
not suitable headings*.
D (o not split tables o$er two pages if your table is not more than one page long.
Lea%ing an of the abo%e out &i"" resu"t in a partial for the third aspect.
INf there is something peuliar about a piee of data that you wish to draw the reader<s attention to4 put
an italiiAed supersripted letter after the data and make a note under the table.
1$oid repetition. 8or e5ample4 if in e$ery e5periment you used the same amount of aid Bust mention it
in the method. 3ou don<t need a olumn that repeats it o$er and o$er in your table.
Take great are with units. The most ommon mistake is to use mL when you should use m
'
.
IoOone likes ha$ing to hunt through tons of alulations to find final results4 least of all me. If the
results of repeated alulations aren<t tabulated to failitate omparison then a partial for presentation
will result.
III. Data Processing
The seond aspet is selfOe5planatory. The only ad$ie needed is to make sure you hek your working
arefully. If your data proessing gi$es you an answer that is nothing like what you e5peted4 or the
literature $alue)s* gi$en4 don<t blame the e5periment E you ha$e made a signifiant error in your data
proessing.
Chow the e"uations you used and an e5ample of a alulation.
If it is a simple alulation4 like an a$erage4 you only need to
show it one
(on<t use rounded off $alues in further alulations. ,arry
through all the deimal plaes on your alulator. Using
rounded off $alues an lead to final answers that are out by a
deimal plae or more. This will result in a partial for the first
aspet.
Use headings where possible to e5plain what setion or step of
the alulation you are doing.
If preparing your reports on a word proessor make sure you
subsript and supersript haraters where neessary.
I!. Graphs
If you use /5el for graphing!
D @lot a scatter x-y graph for ontinuous data.
D @lot a column graph for ategorial data.
D +emo$e gridlines and legend.
D 1dd a suitable trendline#line of best fit )in many ases you will ha$e to do this by hand*.
D (etermine the e"uation of the line )in trendline options*.
D (etermine the orrelation oeffiient )in trendline options*.
D If you an<t do all of the abo$e see me or do your graphs by hand!
8or /5el and handOdrawn graph
D -i$e your graph a suitable and desripti$e title )=-raph? is not a desripti$e title*.
D Label a5es and inlude units in brakets.
D /nsure your graph is a suitable siAe )half page* and not to narrow in either diretion.
If you lea$e any of the abo$e out a partial will be awarded for presentation.
(e%er) e%er) e%er *oin the dots. This will result in an automati not at all. The same thing applies if you
lea$e out the line of best fit entirely. 3ou must draw a line of best fit E a straight line or smooth ur$e
that has roughly as many points on either side of it.

Use a +HARP penil E if you don<t a partial will be awarded. 1 partial will also be awarded if your
graph is =hairy?.
IoOone likes ha$ing to hunt through tons of alulations to find final results4 least of all me. If the
results of repeated alulations aren<t tabulated to failitate omparison then a partial for presentation
will result.
Take are when interpreting graphs prepared with /5el. Hy default /5el will use your minimum and
ma5imum data points to selet where the a5es start and stop. 1t first glane the graph to the right seems
to ha$e a signifiant upward trend but with a lot of random error! ;ne might think that no reasonable
onlusion ould be reahed from suh unreliable data. 1ppearanes an be deei$ing. Hy double
liking on an a5is you an alter its properties inluding where it starts and stops. The data has been
plotted again with the yOa5is set to start at Aero. Iow a more logial onlusion an be reahed4
supported by the alulated gradient of the line and in agreement with aepted theoryE mass has no
effet on the rate of aeleration. %ind you4 the orrelation oeffiient is still4 at best4 only fair.
Cometimes you will want to do the opposite E aentuate the gradient by starting the yOa5is at a $alue
other than Aero.
#onc"usion
/nsure that you "uote any "uantitati$e results in your onlusion e$en if the "uantitati$e results are
mentioned elsewhere in your report. That said don<t Bust restate your results. (raw onlusions from
them.
+emember a hypothesis an only be supported or refuted. It cannot be ,pro%en-.
(on<t forget to ompare your results to the literature. This may be "uantitati$e literature $alues4
manufatures laims or established theories. If you are omparing "uantitati$e results e5press any
differene between your $alue and the literature $alue as a perentage of the literature $alue. Ctatements
suh as =our results were $ery lose to the literature $alues? are not enough E how lose are they as a
perentage7
,onlusions suh as =The results onfirm my hypothesis? will be awarded not a tall E espeially if the
results don<t =onfirm? your hypothesis and e$en if they do. 3ou must e5plain why#how your results
support or in$alidate your hypothesis. 3ou an do this by referring to speifi obser$ations4 the
gradients#shapes of graphs or $alues olleted#alulated. 3ou need to show that you understand how
your results support or in$alidate your hypothesis.
,onlusions suh as =The results onfirm my hypothesis? will be awarded not at all E espeially if the
results don<t =onfirm? your hypothesis and e$en if they do. 3ou must e5plain why#how your results
support or in$alidate your hypothesis. 3ou an do this by referring to speifi obser$ations4 the
gradients#shapes of graphs or $alues olleted#alulated. 3ou need to show that you understand how
your results support or in$alidate your hypothesis.
/%a"uation
i. /$aluating /rrors
1nalyse your soures of error. (istinguish between systemati and random errors.
+andom /rrors! ;ur randomly usually due to $ariation in biologial tissues.
Cystemati /rrors! ;ur eah time the e5periment is done beause some aspet of the e5periment has
a onsistent error. It may be that a measuring ylinder4 or thermometer is inaurate. Instead of the
thermometer reading 2.F, when it is 2.F, it reads 2:F,. Co all the temperatures you reord using
this thermometer will be 2F, out. This may ha$e a signifiant effet on any alulated $alues );r it
may not. ,onsider the signifiane of possible errors arefully*.
3our e$aluation of the errors should fous on the systemati and the random errors.

,onsider some of the following when preparing your e$aluation!

D 1re there flaws in the proedures used whih ould affet the result7
D 6ere important $ariables not ontrolled7
D 1re the measurements and obser$ations reliable7
D Is the auray of a result unknown beause of a lak of repliation7
D 6hat assumptions are being made7
(on<t limit yourself to the abo$e or a partial may result.
ii. Impro$ements
3ou must suggest impro$ements to the PR0#/D'R/. ,omplaining about not ha$ing enough time or
being disorganiAed has nothing to do with the proedure. 1ou need to suggest a 2ini2u2 of three
significant i2pro%e2ents. 1nything less will result in a partial. 3ou must e5plain why the
impro$ements will lead to a redution in systemati or random error.
Cuggestions that lead to inreased preision are only worthwhile for e5periments that re"uire preise
measurements )in an IH Hiology lass4 preision e5periments are rare*.
Cuggestions suh as =ollet more data?4 while $alid and should be inluded &ith an e3p"anation when
appropriate4 are fairly ob$ious and on their own are insuffiient to address the last aspet.
Come suggestions suh as ,be 2ore carefu"- are lame. 1ll you<re saying with a phrase like this is that
you were areless on the day and that I should mark you down for your %anipulati$e skills E and I
probably will4 with my thanks for the reminder.
If it helps you an use the following table to help organiAe your e$aluation.
6eakness#/rror
Impat of 6eakness
Impro$ements
Referencing
If you use someone elsePs ideas in your report you need to aknowledge them. This inludes inOte5t
referening and a works itied page.
I(45/65 R/7/R/(#I(G I( 10' /6P/RI$/(5+
1ny information you use in your essay to support your ideas must be referened within your atual
writing. To do this4 simply insert appropriate information )usually the author O page number or year* in
parentheses after the words or ideas taken from another soure. @lae them where a pause would
naturally our to a$oid disrupting the flow of your writing )usually at the end of a sentene*.This then
links to the full details of these soures found in the works ited# bibliography setion at the end of your
essay. There are two methods on how to do this!
1. UCII- @1+/IT2/C/C! 3ou need to pro$ide the author<s name )if known* and year in
parenthesis at the end of your sentene if you do not identify the author in your te5t!
e.g. It is reommended that the U.C. go$ernment de$elop a new foreign poliy to help Third 6orld
,ountries o$erome po$erty and hunger )CpitAer 2992*
If you do not know the author4 use the title )shortened if neessary*!
e.g. It is reommended that the U.C. go$ernment de$elop a new foreign poliy to help Third 6orld
,ountries
o$erome po$erty and hunger )QNo Need for Hunger 2992*
2. Ioting Use of @arentheses! 3ou do not need a parenthetial referene if you identify the author in
your te5t. )Cee the first entry below.*
6IT2 1UT2;+ II T/RT )This is the preferred way of iting a omplete work.*
e.g. In QNo Need for Hunger4 +obert CpitAer reommends that the U.C. go$ernment de$elop a new
foreign poliy to help Third 6orld ountries o$erome po$erty and hunger.
6IT2;UT 1UT2;+ II T/RT
e.g. No Need for Hunger< reommends that the U.C. go$ernment de$elop a new foreign poliy to
help Third 6orld ountries o$erome po$erty and hunger )CpitAer*.

R/7/R/(#I(G I(70R$A5I0( I( A 80R9+ #I5/D +/#5I0( : BIBLI0GRPAH1

Information you need!
6ebsite
1uthor<s Last name
1uthor<s 8irst name
Cite Title
;rganiAation
(ate aessed
U+L
@ersonal Inter$iew
Iame of person inter$iewed
Type of inter$iew.
(ate of inter$iew.
Boo;: /ncc"opedia) $aga<ine) etc
1uthor<s Last name
1uthor<s 8irst name
Title of book
@ublishing ,ity
3ear @ublished
@age Iumbers
@ublishing ,ompany
6ebsite!
Last Iame4 8irst Iame. Cite Title. ;rganiAation. M 1pr 299: SU+LT.
)if you do not know the author4 lea$e it blank*
Hook!
Last Iame4 8irst Iame. Title of Hook. @ublishing ,ity! @ublishing ,ompany4 @ublishing 3ear.
/rrors and 'ncertainties = $ore infor2ation
%istakes O errors should not be onfused with mistakes4 suh as spilling half of the hemial you Bust
arefully weighed to the nearest milligram between the balane and $olumetri flask. If a mistake is
made you Bust ha$e to start again. 1s far as your e$aluations go you do not need to mention or disuss
mistakes E we all make them so don<t worry.
1n appreiation of errors should be apparent at all stages of a report on an in$estigation!
Nin the design stage4 where the limitations of time and the materials should be assessed4 and the
potential soures of error should be ontrolled. This is done by listing your ontrol $ariables and
e5plaining how you will ontrol them. +emember that you will ha$e more than one ontrol $ariable
Nin data tab"es and graphs4 where the degree of auray of a measuring de$ie should be stated as
well as other obser$ed soures of error.
At a minimum you should include:
-Accuracy of measuring deices !eg. "#- $.$$% cm& in tables and graphs.
-'rror bars on your graphs with a statement in your title stating the range of those error bars. !see
figure ( below&
- A correlation coefficient !)*&
Cee tables and graphs below for e5amples!
UI;T/! This graph is missing unertainties )auray of measurements*.
in the conc"usion and e%a"uation stage4 where the soures of error should be disussed4 along
with possible ways of a$oiding them. )Cee e$aluation*
5er2s and concepts in error ana"sis
Rando2 %ariation or nor2a" %ariation
In many in$estigations4 errors an be aused by hanges in the material used4 or by hanges in the
onditions under whih the e5periment is arried out. 8or e5ample4 the water potential of potato tissue
may be alulated by soaking piees of tissue in a range of onentrations of surose solutions.
2owe$er4 the piees of tissue will $ary in their water potential4 espeially if they ha$e been taken
from different potatoes. @iees of tissue taken from the same potato will also show $ariations in water
potential4 but they will probably show a normal $ariation that is less than that from samples taken
from different potatoes.
)andom errors can+ therefore+ be ,ept to a minimum by careful selection of material and by careful
control of ariables. -or example+ you could use a water bath to reduce the random fluctuations in
ambient temperature.
2uman errors an beome random when people ha$e to make a large number of tedious
measurements and4 therefore4 their onentration spans $ary. 1utomated measuring4 using a data
logger system4 an help to redue the likelihood of this type of error. 1lternati$ely4 the e5perimenter
an take a break oasionally.

Hu2an errors (2ista;es)

2uman errors an our when tools4 instruments or protools are used or read inorretly. 8or
e5ample4 a temperature reading from a thermometer in a li"uid should be taken after stirring the li"uid
and with the bulb of the thermometer still in the li"uid. Thermometers )and other instruments* should
be read with the eye le$el with the li"uid in the thermometer )reading needle* to pre$ent paralla5
error. 2uman errors an be sste2atic4 beause the e5perimenter does not know how to use the
apparatus properly4 or they an be rando24 beause the power of onentration of the e5perimenter is
fading.
HUMAN ERRORS are not relevant errors to discuss! We all make mistakes.

5he act of 2easuring

6hen a measurement is taken4 this an affet the en$ironment of the e5periment. 8or e5ample4 when
a old thermometer is put into a test tube with only a small $olume of warm water in it4 the water will
be ooled by the presene of the thermometer4 or when the beha$ior of animals is being reorded4 the
presene of the e5perimenter may influene the animals< beha$ior.
.easurement errors can+ therefore+ be ,ept to a minimum by careful selection of material and by
careful control of ariables.

+ste2atic errors
Cystemati errors an be redued if e"uipment is regularly heked or alibrated to ensure that it is
funtioning orretly. 8or e5ample4 a thermometer should be plaed in an eletroni water bath to
hek that the thermostat of the water bath is orretly adBusted. 1 blank should be used to alibrate a
olorimeter to ompensate for the drift of the instrument.

'ncertaint 4 Degrees of precision and uncertaint in data

'ncertaint is not the sa2e as error. 1 $alue that is in error is inorret. It is not a true measure of
reality. 1 $alue an be entirely orret but4 no matter what4 it an only be measured to a ertain limit
of preision E to only so many =deimal plaes?. This limit of preision is "uantified as the
unertainty.
Ctudents must hoose an appropriate instrument for measuring suh things as length4 $olume4 p2 and
light intensity. This does not mean that e$ery piee of e"uipment needs to be Bustified4 and it an be
appreiated that4 in a normal siene laboratory4 the most appropriate instrument may not be a$ailable.
8or the degrees of preision4 the simplest rule is that the degree of preision is plus or minus )L* the
smallest di$ision on the instrument )the "east count*. This is true for rulers and instruments with
digital displays.
The instru2ent "i2it of error is usually no greater than the least ount and is often a fration of the
least ount $alue. 8or e5ample4 a burette or a merury thermometer is often read to half of the least
ount di$ision. This would mean that a burette $alue of '4.1 m' beomes '4.19 m' )L 9.9. m'*.
Iote that the $olume $alue is now ited to one e5tra deimal plae so as to be onsistent with the
unertainty.
The esti2ated uncertaint takes into aount the onepts of least ount and instrument limit of
error4 but also4 where rele$ant4 higher le$els of unertainty as indiated by an instrument
manufaturer4 or "ualitati$e onsiderations suh as paralla5 problems in reading a thermometer sale4
reation time in starting and stopping a timer4 or random flutuation in an eletroni balane readOout.
Ctudents should do their best to "uantify these obser$ations into the estimated unertainty.