5 Criteria for Legit High School Science Labs

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I receive lots of questions about what constitutes a high school "science lab".

Most colleges and state credit requirements want to see science labs that include:

1. A student participating (interacting) in the lab they're working on - either in person or in an interactive virtual lab (rather than just watching a video, for example).

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2. A student following (and documenting) a systematic "method" or "procedure" to complete the lab.​

3. A student collecting data and / or recording observations from the lab they're working on. This is typically recording results, numbers, observations, etc. and is included in a data table and graphic presentation of results.​

4. A student writing a full, formal lab report on the lab they've completed. It should include statement of purpose, background information, hypothesis, materials, method / procedure, results (data table and graphic presentation), hypothesis evaluation, errors or anomalous results, future research, and conclusion(s).​

​5. A minimum of eight labs for a science subject in a school year completed with full, formal lab reports.

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