Lab Report

1. 1
Research Question: “What is the effect of the ……(IV) upon the ……… (DV) in
XXXX as measured by …………………..?”
1. Background
Explain a problem or question to be tested by a scientific investigation. Use scientific theory to
briefly describe and explain how the chosen IV affects changes in the organism/biological material being
dealt with. Use textbooks and/or scientific articles (at least one) from scientific journals.
Explain why the chosen DV is a good measure of change in the organism/biological material.
Explain a clear and focused reason why is this research question important to investigate. Is it
related to your everyday life and/or local community? Did you develop or adapt the procedure based on
other references? Why was it changed?
Formulate a predicted answer to your research question (HYPOTHESIS), based on your current
knowledge. You could follow this format: In those experiments I expect that if/when _______________
(IV)_________________, then _________(DV)__________, because _____________(scientific
reasoning/ your knowledge for justification)_____________.
2. Variables
Key:
 Keep black color text as it is. Those are key headings.
 Replace green color text with your owntext written in black font. Green text is there as example of what to write
 Delete green color boxes when you submit your lab report. Those are there to guide youin what to write and advise on what to include in your IA.
A research question is what you hope to figure out, example formula is shown above. Has to be focused,
researchable, answerable, arguable, non-biased (avoid yes/no questions) 
[XXXX refers to the organism (Latin name in italics) or biological material being studied. IV stands for
Independent Variable, DV stands for dependent variable].
Find relevant research articles through PubMed (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) or GoogleScholar
(https://scholar.google.com/).
Use in-text citations in the background. All citations should be in APA format. Provide the author’s last name
and the year of publication in parenthesis after a summary or a paraphrase.
The hypothesis should be based on the theory identified in the background.
Your hypothesis is your prediction/educated guess before you actually do the experiment.
If necessary, a graph could be sketched to illustrate the hypothesis.
Where possible the hypothesis should be quantified, for example: It is expected that the optimum pH for the
activity of catalase to be 6.2, because it would be in accordance with the data published by Smith et al
(1999).

2. 2
Independent variable:
Name the variable with units. I will change ……… by ………… State the values you have been
chosen. Explain why you chose these specific values. Briefly explain how changing this variable would
affect the dependent variable.
Dependent variable:
Name the variable with units. I will measure ……….. by ………….. Explain why is the chosen
variable is a good measure to answer the research question. Describe how the measurements will be
taken. How many trials will you do? Why? Describe all the calculations (such as a reaction rate) that
need to be done, if necessary.
Controlled variables:
Uncontrolled variables:
3. Materials
Variable Likely impact upon the
investigation What would
happen if this variable is not
controlled?
How the variable will be
controlled
What variables need to be kept
constant to ensure a fair test?
Discuss how and why these
variables might impact the data
collected
Discuss how these variables will
be kept constant, what
equipment will you use.
Variable Likely impact upon the
investigation
How the impact of the variable
will be minimized and/or
monitored
What variables might affect the
investigation, but are impractical
to control?
Discuss how and why these
variables might impact the data
collected.
Discuss how these variables will
be monitored. Will there be any
attempt to minimize their
impact?
Independent variable (IV)– the factor you will test and change. You need to choose 5 values of your IV. In
very rare cases 2 values are enough, but then you would need a very big number of replicas (>50) (for
example when you compare two populations).
Dependent variable (DV) – the factor you will measure. Has to be something that will produce numerical
data. You will need to produce at least 5 repeats for each value of IV. If you are doing plant growth/seed
germination or human studies, then your sample size has to be more than 30 per IV condition.
Controlled variables – the factors you will keep the same. Think of all the factors that can affect your
dependent variable, make a mind map in your notes if necessary. Now you will need to include all of these
factors in the table above. You will need at least 4 controlled variables. Often some of the controlled
variables are addressed by including a control experiment in the method.
If your investigation does not have uncontrolled variables then you can remove that table from your report.
In rare cases, all of the above categories of variables might not be necessary, for examples in ecological or
genetic correlation studies.

3. 3
 Make a list of all the equipment you will need.
4. Method (If the chosen method is based on (even if only some parts) or adapted from a
published protocol then the original protocol must be cited here.)
Start by briefly describing outcomes and design of a trial experiment (if it was done). Include
figure with results if needed.
Write a method that is clear, specific and easily replicated. It can be in paragraph or step-by-
step style. Include control experiment (in rare case, for example ecology, this is not necessary).
If you are constructing your own experimental setup, or if you are adjusting anything from the
standard procedure, then include a diagram or photo of your setup, with annotations. If you are doing
ecological research, include photos of the environment, profiles and/or maps.
Explain how your raw data will be transformed into the processed data for graphing.
5. Safety, Ethical, and Environmental Concerns
Be specific (e.g. 250ml beaker instead of beaker)
Include all of the items needed.
Include quantities (in SI units), concentrations (in % or molarity), volumes, masses etc.
Include measuring equipment uncertainties (for example: - one 50 ml measuring cylinder, +/- 0.05ml)
Trial experiment should be written in paragraph form.
In your main method describe how to manipulate the IV, including specific details of range or increments.
In your main method describe procedure for recording the results, including units and uncertainty of tools.
Make sure that you address somewhere in the method each control and uncontrolled variable identified in the
variables table earlier.
Control experiment means something to compare your experimental results to. Normally control experiment is
something that shows the background activity without applying the independent variable (example: bacterial
contamination in the air when growing microbes; if you are testing different color of light, control would be no
light; if you are testing effect of fertilizer on plant growth, control would be plant growth with no fertilizer, etc).
To check if method is clear ---- get a person not familiar with your work to read through the method and then
explain it back to you. See if you need to make any corrections to make it clearer.
Avoid using “I, we, you” in your method. Use passive voice.
Use numbered steps if needed. This allows you to use statements such as “Repeat steps 3 to 6 using
masses of 100g, 150g, 200g, and 250g”
Be specific, using exact measurements instead of general statements. Example: Fill 250ml beaker with 200ml
of water.
Use only SI units (no spoons/cups/drops allowed).
All figures (maps/diagrams etc.) should be appropriately named, for example: “Figure 1. Experimental setup”.
You should always refer to the figure in the text. For example: “Experimental setup can be seen in Figure 1”.

4. 4
Comment on possible safety hazards of the work, say how they will be dealt with to minimise
the impact. How lab equipped for this type of work? Safety procedures for microbiology work should be
mentioned if needed (culturing at 25 degrees Celsius. Not isolating bacteria from the field. etc).
Comment on possible environmental hazards of the work, say how they will dealt with to
minimise the impact. What is waste disposal system for chemicals/microorganisms? When you collect
the sample from the field how do you minimize the ecosystem disturbance? Are you making sure your
samples/trials are of reasonable size without creating excessive waste?
Comment on possible ethical and social impacts of the work, and say how they will be dealt
with to minimise the impact. Consult animal experimentation policy if using life organisms. Collect
consent forms if using human subjects. Anyone below the age of 18 needs a parental signature.
6. Raw data collection and processing
Qualitative observations:
Appropriate (insightful and thoughtful) qualitative data is recorded (those are your
observations). You can comment on: Variation within the organism/biological material being are dealt
with; Colour, texture, shape, size, heat changes; Anything you notice that might affect results. Was there
a spill/contamination/power outage? If doing field work --- site description is expected here.
Quantitative observations:
This section consists of a passage of writing interspersed with tables and graphs. For example:
“During the experiments number and size of germinating seedlings of A.sativa were measured. Resulting
measurements can be seen in Table 1. “
Data is presented in a table including titles, units and uncertainties. Following table is here as
example ONLY. Make your own version.
Table 1. State in title what exactly was measured.
Dependent variable (units, uncertainty)
Raw data Processed data
Independent
variable
(units,
uncertainty)
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5 Mean St Dev
Condition 1
Condition 2
Condition 3
Condition 4
Condition 5
Show an example calculation (with formulae) that you have used to process data in the table. For
standard deviation Excel formula screenshot is acceptable here.
If working with databases or computer modeling then only some concerns will be applied. For example, with
databases you might want to mention if data collection was done in ethical and environmentally friendly
manner.
Quantitative data includes raw numerical data collected by measuring the dependent variable (and
anything relevant about the controlled variables, if applicable).
Graphs, tables, and images should be included as close as possible to their first reference in the
analysis. If a graph is not used to support the analysis it should not be included.
Qualitative data is important as it demonstrates critical thinking.
Qualitative data can be written in paragraph form or with inclusion of tables.
You record here all the parameters that cannot be measured by numbers, for example change of color.

5. 5
Further quantitative data processing:
This section consists of a passage of writing interspersed with tables and graphs. For example:
“To elucidate the relationship between fertilizer amount and size of germinating seedlings of A.sativa
means of measurements were calculated (see Fig. 1 on page 4) and resulting values were plotted on
Graph 1.“
Graph 1. State in the title what exactly is shown in the graph. It should address both DV and IV.
State here what error bars show.
Graphs, tables, and images should be included as close as possible to their first reference in the
analysis. If a graph is not used to support the analysis it should not be included.
Included graphs: -Graph is there to provide visual answer to your research question. If by looking
at your graph I cannot easily see the answer to your RQ, then this graph is incorrect.

6. 6
“Data was further processed by applying statistical test to show…….” Describe here the
statistical analysis you will use. Discuss why you chose it and how it was applied.
For statistical tests:
- you need to choose one statistical test to use. Choose the one that is appropriate to your research
question and data collected.
-phrase the hypothesis in the null/alternate hypothesis format, if appropriate; make sure not to
mistake or confuse that with your RQ hypothesis!
- formulas (or excel equivalent) are stated before any worked example.
- explain the steps in the calculation
- it is acceptable to use online calculators (this will not be accepted for Chi-square as you are
expected to know how to do it by hand) with appropriate in-text citation, just include clear
screenshots of how the data was processed and the results of calculations.
- Statistical tests include full details: including critical values and probability levels (including p value).
-Remember, we always look at p<0.05. What it means exactly will be different depending on the
specific statistical test you perform.
-you can comment right away on results of your statistical analysis or save it to be written up in next
section of the report “7.Analysis and Interpretation”.
Statistical tests that can be used (but not limited to):
- t-test. Is used when comparing two means with sample size larger than 30 trials each. It shows if
two populations are the same or different. If using t-test you should show first that data follows a normal
distribution (also can be done using online calculator tool in the first link below). p<0.05 means that two

7. 7
7. Analysis and Interpretation
The purpose of the analysis is to interpret the data so that a valid and detailed conclusion to the
research question can be deduced later on in the report. Describe patterns and trends in the graph or
tables with reference to the graph/tables. Use your knowledge to interpret the data from your experiment
– what do the results mean, what do they tell you? Put the numbers into words. How does that relate to
your RQ?
Discuss variation within the data (e.g. StDev). What does it mean for validity of your
conclusions?
Discussion of the magnitude of the uncertainties compared to the magnitude of the data
collected. How do they affect the conclusion?
Identify and discuss anomalies or unusual trends. How do they affect your processed data and
mean values?
Comment on the qualitative data--- What impact might it had upon the findings? Does the
qualitative data indicate a possible reason for the natural variation seen in the data? Does the qualitative
data make it more difficult to come to a valid conclusion?
Explain the meaning of the calculated statistical values. What support does the chosen statistical
test offer for the research question.
Additional guidance:
If looking for trend/correlation, i.e. the data is in the 5 IV values x 5 repeats format
Comment on the processed/calculated data:

8. 8
8. Conclusions
Refer back to your hypothesis (re-state it) and discuss to what level your data supports or
rejects it, justify your conclusion through the data analysis in the previous section. State the relationship
between the variables with reference to graphs and tables.
Put your results into scientific context. Use at least one published scientific article on the same
topic. How do results from journal article compare to your results? Why there could be a difference?
Discuss the data in relation to scientific theory, do they support what is established in the field? (use
references) Were your findings unexpected?
Refer back to the research question (re-state it) and discuss how well it has been possible to
answer it.
9. Evaluation
Discuss strengths of your lab design and experiment. Was it a success overall? Were you able
to contribute to science with your research?
Find relevant research articles through PubMed (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) or GoogleScholar
(https://scholar.google.com/).
Use APA style in-text citations.

9. 9
Evaluation of experimental weaknesses and errors
Weakness/source of error Possible effect on data and
magnitude of weakness/error
Suggested improvement
Independent variable
 Was the range of values for
IV sufficient to answer RQ?
 Manipulated effectively?
Dependent variable
 Method of measurement
effective?
 Precise enough equipment
used?
Controlled variables
 Was each controlled
variable effectively
controlled or not?
Uncontrolled errors
 Did StDev / qualitative data
indicate any impact of
biological variation?
 Was effective monitoring
carried out to minimize the
impact of these variables?
 Could these errors be
controlled?
Qualitative Data
 How the observations
made might have affected
the investigation?
Suggest next steps and scientifically interesting extensions based upon the conclusion:
- If the level of support is strong look to extend the investigation, possibly look at different
independent variables or new investigation related to your research question. You have to
say why knowing this new information will be important and interesting, also how it is
connected to your research.
- If the level of support is weak look to repeat the investigation, possibly modify the method,
use different approach, change the way the dependent variable is measured or collect more
data, carry out more repeats.
10.Bibliography
In the table above suggest specific, measurable improvements for each and every weakness/source of error, if
no improvements are necessary state that instead.
-You can add/delete row as necessary, they are there for reference only.
-If improvements refer to a change of equipment the correct name, size and where possible the
uncertainty should be included in the description of the improvement.
Use APA style for all citations.
All references should be in alphabetical order.
See relevant folder on Teams for details of this referencing style.
Make sure all your references are used somewhere in the text as in-text citations. Do not put any references if
they were not used.

10. 10
APPENDIX
This part is not necessary for your IA. Examiners are not required to read it. Use it only if you have
excessive raw data or consent forms from your participants.
Please follow the following checklist when completing various portions of lab reports.
This document is already formatted for you with acceptable font styles and sizes (Arial 11). It has page numbers.
Replace green text with your words in black. Delete all the green boxes and all the text in green AT THE END of
your writing process, they are there to guide you. Then make sure that all text is compact enough --- there are no
excessive empty spaces.
IA in biology is limited to 12 pages.
Save your file as a pdf.
Name your file by following example: 001462_M20_BIO_IA_FIRST_LAST
Make sure there is no place in this IA where your name or school is mentioned.
Significant overlap with other people work can cost you your diploma.