Lab Notebook Information

Twenty-five points from this course will be for your lab notebook. These points should be relatively easy to obtain. For every experiment, you are to keep a record of what you did, why you did it, what you hoped to accomplish, and what you actually accomplished. The format your are asked to follow is specific for this course. However, other lab courses and future employers will require a similar format.

At the top of each page, write the current date and the experiment title. For each experiment, you should have the following sections:

Objective:

What do you expect to accomplish--why are you doing this experiment?

Summary:

A brief outline of the expected experiment a detailed procedure of the experiment that you plan on following.

Safety Issues:

What safety issues do you need to be concerned with while doing this experiment? Who besides yourself will be affected? What will you do in the case of an emergency?

THE OBJECTIVE, SUMMARY AND SAFETY ISSUES SECTIONS OF THE NOTEBOOK SHOULD BE COMPLETED BEFORE YOU COME TO THE LAB.

The teaching assistant will check and initial each time to see that this is done.

Experimental Procedure and Observations:

Step by step-what did you actually do when you conducted the experiment. No matter how well planned an experiment is, it never goes completely how you originally planned. Sometimes these differences are very important. You won't always remember them, so you should write them down for later reference. Get in the habit now and it will be much easier later. What did you observe while conducting this experiment? Include drawings of the equipment, tables of all data collected, answers to various questions you have found, and questions which you still have remaining.

Conclusions and recommendations:

What did this lab tell you? In response to the questions asked before you began, what have you concluded?

Each page needs to be signed and dated by yourself and the teaching assistant before you leave. Use as much space as you need.

Justification:

Industry--Patents

Academia--research

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