Ib Chemistry Lab Format

AP/IB Chemistry Internal Assessment Lab Format

The following titles and subtitles (in bold) should be used for your lab report and given in this order within your lab report.

Title: choose one to fit your experiment

I. Design

A. Problem – must be a focused, clear research question. B. Hypothesis (When appropriate) • Clear answer to Problem – • Logical rational • your conclusion should address the hypothesis you are giving here. C. Variables – list each variable under the appropriate category as follows: 1. Independent Variable-- this is the variable that you manipulate directly. It is not affected by (i.e. it does not depend on) the other variable. 2. Dependent Variable-- this is the variable that you are measuring. It depends on (or is affected by) your manipulation of the independent variable. 3. Controlled Variables-- These are other variables that must be kept constant in order for you to get good, meaningful results. These should be kept constant between your control and experimental groups.

D. Method (Procedure)- Describe in detail how will carry out your experiment to address your problem, organized as follows: 1. Materials 2. Procedure (step by step) (Write this as an ordered list or paragraph, in passive voice, and in past tense.) 3. Method: Controlling Variables— • Explain how you will control your variables • specific • detailed 4. Method: Sufficient and Relevant Data Collection—Explain in detail how your method will enable you to collect sufficient data to address your research question. • Must be QUANTITATIVE and QUALITATIVE data!!! 5. Method: Protocol Diagram (When appropriate) – draw & label a diagram which best shows the major protocol(s) you used. Make sure to show how control group(s) differ from experimental group(s).

II. Data Collection and Processing

A. Raw Data – • Quantitative and Qualitative • Data Tables o Title o Headings for columns and rows o Organized • Units must be included! • Precision. (All measurements by a given instrument should have the same number of decimal places) • Uncertainty— • uncertainty of every instrument • Guidelines: o For 1 measurement (ex. A thermometer), the uncertainty would be +/- 0.5 of the smallest gradation. (ex. +/- 0.5 degrees Celsius) o For 2 measurements (ex. A ruler because there is some estimation at both ends), the uncertainty would be +/- 1 of smallest gradation. ▪ For example a ruler that has millimeters as its smallest division might be written as follows: metric ruler: +/- 1mm (or 0.1cm etc. depending on the units used in the rest of the experiment)

B. Data Processing

1. Overview – this is a short paragraph section that gives an overview of how and why you decided to process and present the data in the form that shows up later in this section. 2. Sample Calculation – neatly lay out and explain one example of each type of manipulation that was done to the raw data to help make it more useful for interpretation. • You must do some math with the data or you will receive a zero !!!

C. Presentation of Processed Data– • Well designed, clear tables and graphs. • You must do some math with the data or you will receive a zero !!! • Best-fit lines and error bars = good. • Title • Label each axis precisely • Units • Must show errors and uncertainties

III. Conclusion & Evaluation

A. Conclusion – • Discuss results and hypothesis (supported or refuted) • Refer specifically to data/graphs • Clearly explain the MEANING of your results • Don’t say “proves” or any conjugation of the word “proof” • Propose scientific REASONS for WHY you got your results, and/or why your results don’t match what is expected scientifically. (in other words, explain why your results make sense (or not) in terms of the biological principles you’ve learned).

B. Evaluation of Procedure – • Be specific and clear • What did not work perfectly? Why? • What limitations/weaknesses were there to the procedure? (MUST BE INCLUDED) • What did work well? Why? • May discuss unusual data points (outliers) and what may have caused them. • May discuss statistical tests, what did the results of that test show? (if applicable) • If you have error bars on your graph(s) what do those show? C. Improving the Investigation • reference aforementioned limitations • realistic and useful improvements if the experiment were repeated. • Don’t be superficial. • Make sure you have a reason for why each suggestion would improve the investigation, and be sure to clearly and explicitly explain this reason.

Refer to the Internal Assessment Grading Matrix given to you earlier for a complete picture of how you are evaluated on each of the three criteria: 1) Design 2) Data Collection and Processing 3) Conclusion and Evaluation