Participation — How well the group worked together
| Score | Description |
| 0 | One group member did all setup and data collection. Little to no collaboration between group members. |
| 1 | Work unequally divided - one member doing most of the work or one member doing none of the work. |
| 2 | Group work unequally divided. Students did not switch roles during setup and data collection |
| 3 | All group members participated in setup and data collection. Students switched roles during during the experiment. — Everyone tried. |
Report Structure — The completeness, organization, neatness of the written lab report.
| Score | Description |
| 0 | One or more parts are not present - lab is incomplete |
| 1 | Lab parts are not in the correct order. Lab is not formatted to conserve paper. Data tables are unnecessarily split over pages. Lab is not stapled. |
| 2 | Lab is neatly put together and stapled. All parts are in the correct order and the the report is formatted to conserve paper. |
Purpose — Reason lab was performed, scientific principle, hypothesis.
| Score | Description |
| 0 | missing or incorrect scientific principle — or the discussion of the principle as it pertains to the experiment. |
| 1 | Correctly identifies the scientific principle being tested but poorly connects the principle with purpose of the experiment. Fails to state a specific hypothesis. |
| 2 | Correctly identifies scientific principle and begins to show connection between scientific principle and experiment but fails to make key points. |
| 3 | Correctly identifies scientific principle and gives detailed explanation. Shows connection between scientific principle and experiment. Clearly states hypothesis and any assumptions. |
Procedure — Complete list of materials and step by step explanation of how to do the experiment.
| Score | Description |
| 0 | Materials list missing or trivial. |
| 1 | Incomplete, missing or vague instructions. |
| 2 | Materials list incomplete, some key materials missing. Some development of step by step instructions but lacks sufficient detail. |
| 3 | Materials list complete. Step by step instructions given. May include minor errors. |
Data — Measurements and observations made during the experiment
| Score | Description |
| 0 | Missing or incomplete data; missing titles and/or units. |
| 3 | Neatly formatted table that fits completely on one page. Includes:
|
Graphs — Analysis of data using a graph or chart.
| Score | Description |
| 0 | Missing or incomplete graphs. |
| 1 | Reasonable start but data is represented on the wrong axis or axis labels are incorrect. |
| 2 | Substantially correct, Incorrect graph type used, Graph displays too many lines. Best fit line and/or equation is missing. |
| 3 | correct graph type used (scatter graph). Graph has a title. Data are assigned to the correct axes. Axes have titles and units. Best fit line is present. Equation for best fit line is present |
Analysis and Conclusions — Derivations, Sample Calculations. Evaluation of the experiment in terms of the purpose statement.
| Score | Description |
| 0 | Missing or incomplete. Fails to use any analysis of measurements and observations. Success of the experiment was credited to the group. |
| 1 | Reasonable start in evaluating the measurements and observations and their relation to the stated purpose but several key points are missing and/or the graphical representation of measurements is not discussed and/or causes of error are not present in discussion (no error may be stated without an explanation). |
| 2 | Substantially correct evaluation of the experiment. Missing important connections between measurements and purpose statement. |
| 3 | Sample calculations given for every calculation and all derivations are shown. Effectively uses measurements and calculations to evaluate the experiment in regards to the stated purpose, scientific principle, and hypothesis. Student makes connection between the graphs and their slopes and the scientific principle. A specific analysis of causes of error (excluding human error) is given. |