Inquiry Lab Report Writing Instructions and Rubric

I’ve used this assignment with students in grades 10-12, in elective sciences. The assignment prompt can be any number of inquiry topics that students are allowed to explore. The student worksheet gives instructions on how to write up a lab report to report findings of an inquiry experiment, where not all students will do the same steps or have the same results. The students will produce a typed paper, although you may modify the instructions to ask for students to create a presentation or poster board.

Also included are pages with a rubric I’ve used as a teacher to check off key parts of the report, as well as a form to use with students to allow them to self-grade or do peer review grading.

Some of the different topics that we’ve studied using inquiry experiments include:

• Red Wiggler Worms: different habitats, feeding, reproduction rates, or behavior

• Brine Shrimp: different habitat size, salinity levels, egg hatch rate, growth rate, population sizes, reaction to pollutants, behavior

• DNA Extraction from different fruits and vegetables: variables included freezing, cooking, shredding, using different soaps, and using different enzymes

• Seed Germination: light, water, fertilizers, pollutants

• Asteroid Impact: different size, mass, velocity

• Greenhouse Construction to increase inner temperature: different materials, reflection, absorption materials

You will receive a 4 page Word document. The file will include 1 page with the above teacher notes, 1 page with the assignment instructions to write up an Inquiry Lab Report, 1 page with an Assignment Rubric, and 1 page with a student grading rubric table.