How to Write a Conclusion for a College Lab Report
Writing lab reports is a crucial part of many college science courses. In a lab report, you detail your experiment from start to finish. This process involves outlining your procedures, recording your results and analyzing your data.
The conclusion paragraph is one of the most important elements of your lab report. It is your opportunity to summarize your experiment and identify your main takeaways. A strong conclusion conveys your experiment's objectives and how they connect to your findings.
What to Include in a Lab Report Conclusion
You can follow a few steps to craft an effective lab report conclusion:
1. Restate the Experiment's Goals
Start your conclusion paragraph with one or two sentences outlining the purpose of your experiment.
2. Describe the Methods Used
Briefly summarize the process you went through to complete the experiment.
3. Include and Analyze the Final Data
Describe your results and explain what they mean in the context of your experiment.
4. State Whether Your Experiment Succeeded
Explain whether your data supported your hypothesis. You should also outline any takeaways for future experiments, such as changes you would make and how you could expand the experiment.
Example of an Effective College-Level Lab Report Conclusion
Generally speaking, your lab report conclusion should be a well-developed paragraph that addresses the above points. Keep in mind that the specific length of your conclusion will vary depending on the complexity of your report.
You can use the below example as a reference while you craft your conclusion:
The goal of this experiment was to investigate the effect of stress on tomato plant growth. It compares the growth of tomato plants subjected to stress for 14 days to a control group of tomato plants not subjected to stress. The stressed tomato plants were exposed to high temperatures and received insufficient amounts of water. As the graph shows, the average height of the stressed tomato plants was 2.5 feet, and the average height of the nonstressed tomato plants was 3 feet. The height difference supports the hypothesis that stress stunts tomato plant growth. Additional experiments could study the effects of stress over a longer period. Subjecting other crops like squash or corn to the same experiment could also provide valuable information.
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