Writing an Experimental Report
Experimental reports are important documents to record any experiments that you perform. Scientists use them to explain to other Scientists how they performed the experiment, what the results were, and what can be learned from the results. It is very important that you only record what actually happened and not what you think other people want to hear. Sometimes very important ideas are learned from experiments that show very different results to what people expected.
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The Parts of the Experimental Report
Aim: What are you trying to learn from this experiment?
Hypothesis: What do you think will happen in the experiment. You must complete this before you complete the experiment.
Equipment: A list of what you used to perform the experiment.
Method: A description of what you did when you completed the experiment. It is always written in third person and is usually written in steps like a recipe.
Results: This is where you write what happened. There are many different ways to record results that are easy to read.
Some ways include:
- Tables
- Diagrams (like a picture)
- Short description
- Graphs
Discussion: This is where you describe what you learned in the experiment. You should always answer the questions in full sentences. There are some hints and tips on how to write a discussion on 'writing a discussion' page.
Conclusion: This is where you state what you learned in no more than three sentences. It needs to include a statement to explain if the results of this experiment confirmed or rejected the hypothesis. It should also include suggestions to what you could do to improve the experiment if you were to complete the experiment again.