​​Lab Report 
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​​Purpose ​🎯​ 

​​Lab reports form an important part of documenting experimental work in scientific research. Writing lab reports is part of learning to be a scientist, and provides you with experience writing scientific journal articles. Through this assessment you will develop your analysis and scientific communication skills.
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​​Task Description ​✏️​ 

​​Write a lab report analysing the data from: 
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  • ​​Week 5 Lab: Analysing the inheritance of genes in fruit flies
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​​Additional Information ​📚​ 

​​To help you complete this task successfully, the following resources are provided:
  • ​​Marking Rubric — refer to this to understand how you will be assessed 
  • ​​Guide: Rubrics — use this to better understand how to interpret rubrics
  • ​​Checklist: How to write a Lab Report — use this to help you complete the task
  • ​​Example: Lab Report — review this to see a completed example of the task
  • ​​Glossary — use this to interpret any words that you do not understand
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​​Checklist: How to write a Lab Report ​✅​ 

​​Please copy + paste this checklist into your Notes, ticking off each task as you go. 
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​​Step 1: Task Understanding
  • ​​Read the Instructions and Checklist carefully using the Glossary
  • ​​Read the Guide: Rubrics and then your Marking Rubric 
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​​Step 2: Plan Report
  • ​​Plan your report using this structure (adapted from Rhoden and Starkey (1988)):
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  • ​​Introduction: provide an overview and what to expect. Including:
  • ​​Context: provide background information
  • ​​Aims: outline any aims of the experiment
  • ​​Hypothesis: state the hypothesis of the experiment
  • ​​Method: explain how you did the experiment. Including:
  • ​​Materials, subjects, and equipment: e.g. chemicals, apparatus, etc
  • ​​Procedure: outline the steps you took (in chronological order)
  • ​​Results: present the results of your experiment. Including:
  • ​​Findings: present your findings, as facts or evidence
  • ​​Images: use tables and figures to enhance your findings
  • ​​Discussion: analyse your findings, linking to introduction. Including: 
  • ​​Hypothesis: do your findings support the hypothesis? If not, why? 
  • ​​Studies: do your findings agree with previous studies? If not, why?
  • ​​Methodology: could you have done your procedure any differently?
  • ​​Conclusion: summarise your findings. Including:
  • ​​Significance: state the significance of your findings
  • ​​Research: outline the direction of future research 
  • ​​Improvements: state any improvements to the methodology
  • ​​Reference List: include a list of all references that you cited
  • ​​TIP: review end-text references in Cadmus Manual
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​​Step 3: Submit Draft