How to Write an Abstract

An abstract is a brief summary of the work that you have completed and gives readers an
overview of your experiment and its results. It is not written until you have finished the entire lab
report and should be the last thing you write. The following components of an abstract will guide
you in writing yours.
Purpose of the Experiment

An introductory statement of the reason for investigating the topic of the project.
A statement of the problem or hypothesis being studied.

Procedures Used

A summarization of the key points and an overview of how the investigation was
conducted.
An abstract does not give details about the materials used unless it greatly influenced the
procedure or had to be developed to do the investigation.
An abstract should only include procedures done by the student. Work done by a mentor
(such as surgical procedures) or work done prior to student involvement must not be
included.

Observation/Data/Results

This section should provide key results that lead directly to the conclusions you have
drawn.
It should not give too many details about the results nor include tables or graphs.

Conclusions

Conclusions from the investigation should be described briefly.

The summary paragraph should reflect on the process and possibly state some
applications and extensions of the investigation.

From http://www.sciserv.org/isef/primer/abstract.asp

Your rubric:
to one page long, single-spaced (no more than 250 words)
Must have a title (the title of your experiment)
Must include information from the four parts above
No subtitles
Do not start with My project is about or I did my experiment on
Ariel, TNR, or Comic Sans, 12 pt font, normal margins
Same font must be used throughout the entire lab report
For additional help:
http://www.northwesternenergy.com/coolstuff/educators/Science_Fair/scienceabstracts.htm

Abstract Worksheet
Use one or two concise sentences to summarize the most important aspects of your project for
each section listed below.
Project Title (the same as the title of your scientific paper)

Introduction (What is this project about? Why is this project interesting or important?)

Hypothesis (What did you think you would find? Why?)

Methods (Briefly explain your procedure.)

Results (What did you find when you performed your experiment?)

Discussion (Are your results consistent with your initial hypothesis? Why or why not?)

Conclusion (What is your interpretation of what these results mean? Why should anyone
become excited about or interested in your findings?)

http://www.uaf.edu/csem/ashsss/abstract_writing.html

Sample Abstracts
1. THE STUDY OF REPRODUCTIVE RATES OF DROSOPHILA AFTER
DRASTIC ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE (8th grade)
The intent of this study was to determine if the Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly)
reproductive rates were affected by drastic environmental change. The flies
were put into vials; four flies per vial, and then the vials were put under different
conditions. The conditions were warm (37-40 degrees Celsius), cold (0-5
degrees Celsius), radiation (given 1 minute doses of radiation every two weeks),
and control (20 degrees Celsius). The flies were kept at these conditions for a
month. Weekly, the flies were anesthetized and counted. The result was that the
control variables allowed flies to survive the best. The warm variable left the flies
vulnerable to infection, which eliminated the population. The cold decreased
activity and eliminated the population. The population in the radiation fluctuated
and had no definite pattern.
http://www.csun.edu/science/nsf/poster_fair/abstract.htm
2. UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS DOES YEAST RESPIRE THE MOST
RAPIDLY? (6th grade)
Experiments were developed to determine the optimal conditions for yeast
respiration as measured by the production of carbon dioxide that was collected
by water displacement. Flasks containing 2.0 grams of baker's yeast,
Saccharomyces cereviseae, and a constant amount of sucrose, were placed in
water baths at different temperatures from 10 to 70 C. It was determined that
yeast respired best at approximately 45 C. When the experiment was repeated at
45 C using sugar concentrations from 0 to 30% (by weight), it was determined
that yeast respired most rapidly in a 24% sucrose solution. Keeping the
temperature at 45 C, yeast was put in 24% sugar solutions ranging from pH 1 to
12 and it was found that yeast respired most rapidly at pH 7. It was determined
that the addition of salt reduced the respiration rate when temperature, sugar
concentration and pH were kept constant at optimal values. When Nutra-sweet
was substituted for sucrose the respiration rate decreased indicating that yeast
respires more rapidly in natural sugar. It was concluded that baker's yeast
respires most rapidly at 45 C, in 24% sucrose solution, at a pH of 7, with no
additional salt. http://www.csun.edu/science/nsf/poster_fair/abstract.htm