1.

5 ANALYSING
SCIENTIFIC
INVESTIGATIONS
By the end of this subtopic, you will be able to
 identify variables in a given situation.
 identify a question suitable for scientific
investigation
 form a hypothesis
 design and carry out a simple experiment to test the
hypothesis.
 record and present data in a suitable form.
 interpret data to draw a conclusion.
 write a report of the investigation.
 Process in a Scientific
Investigation
Observation (e.g apple takes a longer time to swing to and fro
when the string is longer)

Inference

Question (What is the relationship between the length of the

string and the time taken for the apple to swing to and fro)

Variables

Hypothesis

Designing an experiment
How to tabulate data?

-the name or the symbols of the variables

must be labelled with respective units.
-all measurements must be consistent
with the sensitivity of the instruments
used.
-all the calculated values must be correct.
-all the values must be consistent to the
same number of decimal places.
A graph is cosidered well-plotted if it contains the
following:

- a title to shoe the two variables and investigation.

- two axes labelled with correct variables and units
- scales must be chosen carefully and graph must
occupy more than 50% of the graph paper.
-all the points are correctly drawn.
-the best line is drawn.