One really nice thing about writing lab reports is that they almost always follow a very specific format, so there's no question about what information goes first, second, third, etc. Lab reports generally have seven main parts:
Title
The title is a brief summary of the main ideas in the paper. It should be between 5 and 12 words long. If you studied a particular species in your experiment, make sure you include that in the title. If the study was a field study done in a specific location, that should also be mentioned. The title should have enough details that any person could read it and know just what the study was about. But you don't need too many details, since you'll be talking about them in the paper itself.
For example, a study on the numbers of bird species found in Phoenix parks might be called "Species of birds in Phoenix city parks." It's very simple and to the point.
a. The effect of fertilizer on the growth of rose bushes.
b. Rose bushes with large amount of fertilizer grow better than rose bushes with small amount of fertilizer.
c. Plants and fertilizer.
Click on the question, to see the answer.
The abstract is a short summary of the main ideas found in the lab report. It should include 1) the purpose of the study or the question being addressed by the study, 2) the procedures used in the study, 3) the major results of the study, and 4) any conclusions drawn by the author(s). The abstract should generally be between 100 and 200 words in length.
ABSTRACT
Over the past few decades, land-use and climate change have led to substantial range contractions and species extinctions. <Purpose of Study. Even more dramatic changes to global land cover are projected for this century. This study used the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment scenarios to evaluate the exposure of all 8,750 land bird species to projected land-cover changes due to climate and land-use change.<Procedures used in study. For this first baseline assessment, the authors assumed stationary geographic ranges that may overestimate actual losses in geographic range. Even under environmentally benign scenarios, at least 400 species are projected to suffer >50% range reductions by the year 2050 (over 900 by the year 2100). Although expected climate change effects at high latitudes are significant, species most at risk are predominately narrow-ranged and endemic to the tropics, where projected range contractions are driven by anthropogenic land conversions.<Results of Study. Most of these species are currently not recognized as imperiled. The causes, magnitudes, and geographic patterns of potential range loss vary across socioeconomic scenarios, but all scenarios (even the most environmentally benign ones) result in large declines of many species. Whereas climate change will severely affect biodiversity, in near future, land-use change in tropical countries may lead to yet greater species loss. A vastly expanded reserve network in the tropics, coupled with more ambitious goals to reduce climate change, will be needed to minimize global extinctions. <Conclusion that authors have drawn.