Where have we been? Where are we going?

This week, we have learned how to write an effective Procedure section which includes enough detail to enable someone to repeat your experiment.

You now know how to describe the equipment you used so that someone can do the same experiment in a different laboratory with similar equipment. You also know how to describe the steps you followed, including clear instructions with timings and quantities, as well as any ethical or risk elements that should be kept in mind when setting up and conducting the work.

You have developed two key skills this week that will be useful throughout your report: how to present drawings and photographs effectively and how to refer to them in the text.

By understanding what you did, your reader is now better placed to understand what you actually got out of the work. You will report this in the next section, the Results.

Next lessson, we’ll show you how to put together a Results section including how to display and comment on your results using graphs and tables.