The following section is an excerpt from the example laboratory report, titled Proper Inflation of a Basketball. (The entire example report is available in either  Microsoft Word Format for printing, or  HTML format for online viewing.)

Materials and Methods

The basic setup for this experiment is shown in Figure 1. We used a wooden 2-meter stick to set a uniform height, h₀ = 1.8 m, from which we dropped a basketball and to measure the height h of its rebound. As shown in Figure 1, h₀ was measured from the floor to the bottom of the ball, while h was measured from the floor to the top of the ball, in accordance with international rules (Fédération Internationale de Basketball 1998). We used a video camera to record the motion of the basketball. By examining the video recording frame-by-frame, we could capture the ball at the top of its rebound.
 
 
 

Figure 1. To determine the rebound height of a basketball, a video camera was used to record its motion with a meter stick in the background.

The video camera we used was an 8-mm format (Sony model CCD-F301). The resolution of the image in the "stop-action" frame was the critical factor in determining the precision of our height measurements. In order for the marks on the meter stick to be seen in the frame, we darkened every centimeter marking with a permanent marker. The precision of our individual height measurements was ± 1 cm.

The basketball we used (Wilson "Zone Buster" model P1350) was made of molded rubber. We measured the diameter of the ball by holding it flush to the wall with a book (a convenient right angle) and then measuring the distance from the edge of the book to the wall. The ball had a diameter D = 24 cm, as shown in Figure 2. We estimated that the wall thickness of the ball was 0.25 cm. We therefore considered the wall thickness to be negligible compared to the diameter of the ball. Before beginning the experiment, we inserted an inflating needle into the basketball to equalize its internal pressure with that of the surrounding air.
 
 
 

Figure 2. The outside diameter of the basketball we used was D = 24 cm. The inside diameter of the pump cylinder was d = 3.4 cm and the length of its stroke was D z = 38 cm.

The pump we used to inflate the basketball was a common hand pump. We disassembled the pump to measure the inside diameter of the cylinder, d = 3.4 cm, and reassembled it to measure the length of its stroke, D z = 38 cm. These measurements allowed us to determine the volume of air that was pumped into the ball with each stroke of the pump. We conducted our experiment inside, using the thermometer of the room’s thermostat to measure the temperature of the surrounding air, T = 70 ° F (equivalent to 21 ° C). We dropped the ball onto a hardwood floor.

To complete the experiment, we inflated the basketball, counting the number of strokes N that we used. We then dropped the ball from a 1.8-m height and recorded its rebound height h. We repeated this measurement five times. We then inflated the ball some more, counting the additional number of strokes D N that we used, and repeated our measurements of the ball's rebounding with this new total number of strokes N. We repeated this process until the ball rebounded to over 62% of its initial height.

Note what's here:

• Not only the "whats" but the "whys." For example, the model number of the camera is important, because it is an 8-mm format, because that determines the resolution of the measurements. The model of the basketball is important, because of the material from which it is made, etc.
• Details about the expreiment. Include dimensions, etc..
• Paragraphs. This section should not be a numbered list of steps.
• Line drawings. A picture is worth a thousand words when describing an experiment, and a good line drawing is much more effective than the best photograph.

• Step-by-step instructions. For example, there is no description about how to operate the video camera. This section is not a repeat of the laboratory writeup.