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Lab reports for biology help


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Hello,

 

I'm hoping for some seasoned advice on lab reports. I'm teaching a high school biology class for a group of 9th graders (Apologia as the spine, but with lots of other things added in) and I'm struggling with the format for lab reports. Everything I've found online gives wonderful suggestions when you're doing an experiment and testing a hypothesis, but most of the labs done in biology are more observing type labs (microscope work observing plant and animal cells, dissections, etc.) I see the students twice a week so I don't have time to teach each part of the report and so I plan on typing out instructions for them to take home and "teach" themselves. The Methods & Procedure section is easy, but what do I tell them to do for the other sections (like the Introduction where you're supposed to state the hypothesis or the data and results where there aren't really any results?)

 

Thanks so much!

 

Jill

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In the introduction section you can have them discuss the science behind the activity. In the results section, have them record their observations (and call it "observations"). For the conclusion section, they can say how their observations matched up with the science they described in the introduction. Some activities may not lend themselves to this format either and you could just have them answer questions about their experience.

 

I have to say that I appreciate that you see that many labs don't lend themselves to the typical write up. It seems that many people try to force them to conform by requiring the students to come up with hypotheses and results that are totally contrived. It insults students' intelligence and makes them think that science is ridiculous. Not only that, it makes the scientific method seem like something that is static and rigid, whereas, in reality, it is a dynamic process that frequently doesn't conform to some linear model.

Edited by EKS
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We're not doing lab reports in Biology. My son's lab book mostly has his drawings, labeled, identified, etc. Sometimes a chart or something. We're working hard on this type of thing this year, with more observation and attention to recording detail.

 

I'll be curious to watch your thread and see whether this is the norm.

 

Julie

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I have to say that I appreciate that you see that many labs don't lend themselves to the typical write up. It seems that many people try to force them to conform by requiring the students to come up with hypotheses and results that are totally contrived. It insults students' intelligence and makes them think that science is ridiculous. Not only that, it makes the scientific method seem like something that is static and rigid, whereas, in reality, it is a dynamic process that frequently doesn't conform to some linear model.

:iagree:

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