First, always write your methods before you forget what you did. Nothing is worse than trying to guess how many milliliters you added three days later. Second, use past tense everywhere—you already did the experiment, so “the solution turned blue,” not “the solution turns blue.” (Unless you’re writing a time-travel lab report, which I’d totally read.) Third, don’t be afraid to use tables and figures—a picture of a sad plant or a graph of growing heights is worth a thousand words.
So, the next time you’re staring at your own mildly disappointing experiment, remember Gerald. He didn’t survive my first lab report, but he taught me that examples are your safety net. Copy the structure, adapt the words, and keep your sense of humor. And maybe, just maybe, give your plant some red light next time. It worked for the other group.
