Hi I need a 6 pages lab report
Figure 1: Top view of the extruder, showing the settings.
Figure 2: guiding the extruding PLA filament
Figure 3: PLA filament being collected by the Spooler
Figure 4: Extruded PLA filament
Figure 5: Filament diameter measurement using Vernier caliper
Table 1: PLA Filament radius measurements
Radius 1 (mm.) |
Radius 2 (mm.) |
Radius 3 (mm.) |
Average (mm.) |
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Sample 1 |
1.4 |
1.6 |
1.7 |
1.5 7 |
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Sample 2 |
1.5 |
1.53 |
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Sample 3 |
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Lab Report Guidelines
Include the lab title, lab number, your Lab Group number, experiment date(s), course,
instructor, University, team member names, and a brief summary of team member
contributions. Format it so that it is centered in the page.
-Successfully provides background information and establishes the scientific concept of
the lab
• The introduction serves to provide the reader with the necessary background information
needed to understand the experiment, establishes the scientific concepts, and provides the
rationale for doing the experiment. Each usually consists of a paragraph.
• Background information – In this paragraph you provide the reader with information on
what has been done in the past regarding your objective. It is your opportunity to inform
the reader of the theory and/or key concepts the experiment will demonstrate or examine.
It is also the place where you demonstrate your credibility by showing that you have done
the necessary research to understand the topic. The background information paragraph of
the Introduction can be thought of as a sales pitch. For example, “Previous work in the
field of XYZ has shown that . . . These findings indicate that . . . An area that warrants
further examination is. These statements should be leading up to your objective statement.
• Establish the scientific concept for the lab – State what the lab is about, that is, what
scientific concept (theory, principle, procedure, etc.) you are supposed to be learning about
by doing the lab. If you are having trouble writing the opening sentence of the report, you
can try something like: “This laboratory experiment focuses on X…”; “This lab is
designed to help students learn about, observe, or investigate, X….” Or begin with a
definition of the scientific concept: “X is a theory that….”
• effectively presents the objectives and the rationale for performing the lab
The objective is the most important component to any experiment and lab report. It is a
statement of the objective, goal, or purpose of the experiment. It is a one or two sentence
answer to the question: “What do you hope to accomplish with this experiment?”
Formulate your objective statement before you begin writing the report – invest some time
In a paragraph, or more, write out the objectives of the lab in paragraph form and then
describe the purpose of the lab: what it is that accomplishing the objectives will help you
learn about the scientific concept of the lab.
The objective(s) are what it is you are supposed to accomplish in the experimental
procedure itself. The objective(s), therefore, is usually presented in terms of a specific verb
that describes what you are supposed to be doing in the lab, such as to measure, to analyze,
to determine, to test etc. Often, the objective(s) for the lab is given in the lab manual. If you
are having trouble phrasing the sentence about objectives, try something like: “The main
objectives of this lab were to…”; “In this lab we were to….”
• rationale/purpose – provide the reader with the reason for performing the experiment (not
”because the TA told me too”). Identify what will be learned and why it is important.
Focus your explanation on the science and how it relates to your objective.
The purpose/rationale of the lab is different in significant ways from its objective(s).
Purpose provides the wider view; it answers the why question, why you are doing the lab in
the first place. Instead of focusing just on the specific actions of the experimental
procedure, purpose looks at the experimental procedure within the context of what you are
supposed to be learning. If you are having trouble starting the sentence about the purpose
of the lab, try saying something like this: “The objectives of this lab enabled me to learn
about X by…”; “Performing these objectives helped me to understand X by….” To
improve this part of the introduction, go back to what you have written about the scientific
concept and look for a link between it and the activities you are expected to perform in the
lab: what specifically about the scientific concept were these activities designed to teach
you?
• A good Methods section describes what you did in the lab in a way that is easy to
understand and detailed enough to be repeated. Record what you did to meet the
Objective. Be specific enough such that someone could read your methods and have
enough information to repeat your experiment. However, you don’t want to provide too
much detail such that you overwhelm the reader with trivial information. Include
information that might be unique to the experimental methodologies.
• The Procedures should be written in the past tense and the passive voice – e.g. “the
sample was added to the test-tube”, and not “I added the sample to the test-tube”, nor
“Add the sample to the test-tube”. You are reporting what was done, not giving
instructions on how to do something.
• opens with effective statement of overall findings
Results sections typically begin with a brief overview of the findings. This is where you
sum up your findings. Such a statement is typically a sentence or two. This summary will
act as the opening sentence for the Results. If you had trouble getting the first sentence
started, here are some possibilities: “The results of the lab show that …”; “The data from
the experiments demonstrate that…”; “The independent variable X increased as Y and Z
were….”. The Results section is text based. Tables and figures do not comprise the Results
section, they enhance it. In the Results section, you need to tell the reader what data you
have collected, what the data means, and what the data shows. You should refer to figures
and tables to aid in your presentation.
• present visuals clearly and accurately
Figures and Tables should be numbered (figure should have captions, while tables should
have headings) and should be referred to in the text before they appear in the report.
Graphs should have the x- and y-axes labeled and units designated along those axes.
Images should have important parts of the image labeled or annotated.
• presents verbal findings clearly and with sufficient support
The presentation of findings in words should be ordered according the order of the visuals,
each visual being described in words. Each description should include a sentence or so
summarizing the visual and then any details from the visual pertinent to the data from that
visual. To make the verbal part of your Results better, follow this general outline:
• Summary of overall findings of lab
• Paragraph related to visual 1
o Sentence of overall finding from visual 1
o Sentence(s) with key details from the visual 1
• Paragraph related to visual 2
o Sentence of overall finding from visual 2
o Sentence(s) with key details from the visual 2
• Paragraph related to visual 3
o Sentence of overall finding from visual 3
o Sentence(s) with key details from the visual 3
Etc.
• successfully integrates verbal and visual representations
The verbal representation of each visual should refer explicitly to the visual (Table 1,
Figure 2, etc.). You should create the sense that the visual and the word representations of
data are working together. The primary way of doing that is to cite the visuals in your
verbal findings
• opens with effective statement of support of objectives
The Discussion section is where you explain the meaning and significance of the results
presented in the Results section in terms of your Objective. The Discussion should start
with a sentence or two in which you make a judgment as to whether you have met your
objectives (from the Introduction), supported with qualifications, or not supported by the
findings. You have gathered and presented the data to meet your Objective – now you
need to organize the data and present it in a logical/clear way to lead the reader to your
conclusions. You might think of yourself as a lawyer arguing a case. You also need to
account for and explain the weaknesses in your study, for example errors between your
values and known values, possible sources of error, simplifying assumptions you made, etc.
There is a lot of information you could talk about, so limit yourself by focusing on that
information that is relevant to your Objective.
• backs up statement with reference to appropriate findings
After stating the judgment about meeting the objectives, you should provide specific
evidence from the data in the Results to back up the judgment. The first key to improving
this part of the Discussion is finding specific evidence reported in the Results that you can
use to back up your judgment about meeting your objectives. The second key is to describe
the evidence in such a way that the reader can clearly see that there is sufficient evidence
that supports your judgment about meeting the objectives. Be specific. Point out specific
evidence from the Results and show how that evidence contributed to your judgments.
• sufficiently addresses other issues pertinent to lab
A low rating in this area means that the instructor thinks that there are other interesting
issues you could have discussed about your findings. Other issues that may be appropriate
to address are (1) any problems that occurred or sources of error in your lab procedure that
may account for any unexpected results; (2) how your findings compare to the findings of
other students in the lab and an explanation for any differences; (3) suggestions for
improving the lab.
• convincingly describes what has been learned in the lab
A good Conclusion takes you back to the larger purpose of the lab as stated in the
Introduction: to learn something about the scientific concept, the primary reason for doing
the lab. The Conclusion is your opportunity to show your lab instructor what you learned
by doing lab and writing the lab report. You can improve your Conclusion first by making
a clearer statement of what you learned. Go back to the purpose of the lab as you presented
it in your Introduction. You are supposed to learn something about the scientific concept or
theory or principle or important scientific procedure that the lab is about. If you are not sure
if you have stated what you have learned directly enough, read your first paragraph to see if
your reader would have any doubt about what you have learned. Simply saying you learned
something is not necessarily going to convince the reader that you actually did learn it.
Demonstrate that you did indeed learn what you claimed to have learned by adding more
details to provide an elaboration on the basic statement. Read over the Results and
Discussion and jot down some notes for further details on what you have learned. Look
carefully at the statement of what you have learned and underline any words or phrases that
you could “unpack,” explain in more detail. Use this brainstorming as a way of helping you
to find details that make your Conclusion more convincing.
If you think you need to do more to convince your reader that you have learned what you
say you have learned, provide more details in the Conclusion. For example, compare what
you know now with what you knew before doing the lab. Describe specific parts of the
procedure or data that contributed to your learning. Discuss how you may be able to apply
what you have learned in the lab to other situations in the future.
• citations and references adhere to proper format
You need to properly cite your references both in the text as well as a reference list at the
end of the report. Different fields tend to have different styles of documentation, that is,
the way you cite a source and the way you represent the source in the References. For
example, biologists use the documentation style of the Council of Biological Editors, and
chemists use the style of the American Chemical Society. If you don’t know what style you
are expected to use in your reports, check with your lab instructor.
• format of tables and figures is correct
Tables and figures should be done to professional standards, such as proper headings and
captions and numbering. Figures should be numbered and have a caption below the figure.
Tables should be numbered and have a caption above the table. Images should have
important parts labeled, marked, or annotated.
• report is written in scientific style: clear and to the point
Style in this case refers to your choice of words and sentence structure. The style of science
writing strives to be clear and to the point. You should avoid using grand thesaurus words
and long, artfully convoluted sentences. As to choice of words, science writing uses words
that its audience (other scientists in the field) will readily understand. To outsiders, the
scientific vocabulary of this language looks like a lot of jargon. But the point is that
scientific words that are obscure to outsiders are usually not obscure to the insiders that
comprise the scientific audience. Your writing should sound like scientific writing. This
means that you should go ahead and use proper scientific terminology, but you should also
choose plain, everyday words for non-scientific terminology.
Your sentences should be clear and readable for your educated audience. Avoid excessively
long and meandering sentences. But don’t use a lot of very short sentences, either. Vary
your sentence length. If you have difficulties with making your sentences readable, read
over them aloud, noting the sentences that seem to be too long or are hard to read. Rewrite
those sentences so that they flow more easily.
Also, avoid using quotations. Scientists very rarely quote from source materials; they do so
only when a particular wording is important to the point they are trying to make. Using
direct quotations is appropriate to English papers, but not to lab reports.
• grammar and spelling are correct
Grammar errors. It’s important that you understand that the source of grammar problems
is not, for most of us, a matter of not knowing the rules of grammar. So don’t worry about
that. The source of most grammatical errors is simply not seeing them in your own writing.
We usually read our own writing for the meaning that the words convey and not for the
words themselves.
Correcting grammar problems, then, is usually a matter of learning to read our writing
differently. Read your lab report at least twice specifically looking for errors in grammar.
You should focus on the words and sentences themselves. You don’t need any special
knowledge for detecting and correcting most grammar problems. If you do read for error,
you will probably be able to spot problems and correct them without having to look
anything up in a handbook.
Spelling errors. Sometimes, there are words that the spell-checker does not catch because
they are words that are actually spelled correctly but are used for the wrong meaning, like
using “to” for “too” and “that” for “than.” You should be able to spot these misuses of
words by reading over the report looking for error, as described under “grammar errors”
immediately above.
- Title Page
Introduction
Materials & Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Presentation of your Report