Let’s talk about lab reports!

We’re in the countdown to a new school year.  Let’s discuss lab reports.   The last time I taught Biology, the group was particularly needy; several kids had learning differences.  Others just required more attention.  Rob and I taught together—just to handle the numbers.  I got an email from a mom in January asking about formal lab reports.  This had never happened before.  I was so engaged in keeping the kids on task, behaving, and up to date in assignments I hadn’t assigned any lab reports.  At all.  Guess what?  We wrote a batch.  You can, too.  Pick four rigorous labs, do them, and write the reports all at once.  Heresy!  It’s practical.  Science one week will be labs and reports.  

Here is my lab report rubric.  The Co-op science classes (typically) assign four, formally written, lab reports for each course.  Several students are enrolled in Kolbe, Seton, or Mother of Divine Grace; they require four lab reports. Fine.  Did you know Apologia has a guide, How To Write A Lab Report?  Germanna is the local community college network; their Writing a Formal Lab Report is excellent.  BTW not every lab has a hypothesis; more often a lab has a purpose.  For example, the first lab in Chemistry is a density lab; the purpose is to review metric measures.  I loathe if/then statements.  My teens include the purpose in the background section.

There are many ways to assess labs, in addition to reports.  What else do we do?  We collect and analyze data in a spreadsheet, or this density spreadsheet.  Students may complete calculations in data sheets, such as in the Specific Heat of Metals lab, Density Lab, or the Flame Test Kit.  I have had students prepare videos explaining labs they completed, such as this example, Chemistry Experiment 5.1.  Students with learning differences often answer questions orally.  I’m assessing what they gained from the lab.  Every lab is different.  Quick labs, such as Reaction in a Bag, have observations and questions to answer.  My teens dilute Kool-Aid and submit their calculations.  See?  There are loads of effective ways to assess, some of which includes formal lab reports.