Designing your experiment

Student Investigation Guide

 TITLE

• Needs to mention the relationship between independent and dependent variable

• "Investigating the Refraction of Light" is an appropriate title while "Science Project"

is not.

• The title should be informative and brief - make sure it is not too general.
 AIM

• What are you trying to find out?

• Written as a statement that can be tested (not a question)

• Starts with “To…..”

• Example: to investigate the effect of different types of music on the growth of pea
Plants

• The aim of an experiment is the objective. In other words, it says what can be
learned from the experiment. "To see how light is affected by lenses and plates of
glass of various thickness.”

• The aim should be brief - one or two lines.

 HYPOTHESIS

• This is an educated guess about what you think will happen in your experiment,
based on your aim

• It should start with “If ……then…….would…..”

• Written as a simple statement, not a question, no personal opinions

• Example: If pea plants are grown surrounded by music with a faster beat, then they
will grow faster.
 VARIABLES

• Identify the variables your testing

• Make sure you include the word ‘same’ when your writing down the
controlled variables
• Needs to be in a table

Independent Dependent Controlled

The one thing you The one thing you are The many things you
change measuring keep the ‘same’.
 EQUIPMENT
• List all equipment and chemicals

• Specify quantities and sizes (e.g. 20ml of hydrochloric acid, 50ml beaker)

• This can be done as a dot point list

RISK ASSESSMENT
• Identify possible risks or hazards (what could happen?)

• Say whether they are high, medium or low risks

• Include steps taken to reduce risks

Risk Level of risk Control measures

There is a risk of being low Place all glass equipment away
cut from broken glass from the edge of the bench and tell
the teacher/parent immediately of
any breakages
 METHOD
• Numbered step by step instructions, that someone else can follow and get the same
results
• Write in the present tense
• Start each sentence with “Put….” Or “Place….” , “Add…”
• Write in a passive voice
• Be precise about units: "the Petri dishes were kept at 37°C for 7 days", "16 grams of
magnesium oxide were collected."
• State your independent and dependent variables
• State your control variables
• State “observe results”, “record data”, “repeat experiment”
• If you are using a control in your experiment, state how you will do this
• It should be written using language such as "The beaker is placed on the tripod and
heated for four minutes". Do not use first person such as "We took the beaker and ...”
• A diagram or images to illustrate the apparatus used and how it was set up. It can be a
drawing or a photo.
• Try to keep the method as brief but precise and clear as possible. Someone who has
never seen the experiment before should be able to take your paper and repeat the
experiment without having to ask you "What's this part here?" or "How did you do
this?”
 DIAGRAM

• Draw in pencil
• Have a heading “diagram 1: ………………..”
• Use a ruler
• Draw in 2-D
• Label all items
• Each diagram should take up . of the page

DATA TABLE GRAPHS

• Use a pencil • Use a pencil
• Give each column an appropriate • Write a heading “Graph1: Title for the
heading Graph…...”
• Place any calculations in subsequent • Label each axis and include the units
columns • Plot the points accurately
• Have a heading “Data table 1:……….”
• Record all units
 RESULTS

• State if your observations are quantitative or qualitative

• Clearly explain your results
• Use your diagram, data table, graph to help explain your results
• Identify trends and patterns
• Use a labeled photograph or drawing to help explain your results
• Calculate averages where appropriate
 DISCUSSION

• Background information to support your investigation

• Discuss the implications of your results
• Discuss problem and errors and unexpected outcomes and how you can improve it
next time you conduct the same experiment
• Discuss the validity of your data and its reliability. It is fine to think your aim was a
good idea to start with but did not work out because of unseen problems, just state
the fact.
• Ethics of the experiment
• Validity (were all the variables kept constant except for the one independent
variable? Did the experiment test the aim?)
• Accuracy (was the equipment calibrated? Were measurements taken rather
than estimates? Were correct scientific techniques used to avoid errors in the data
collected?)
• Reliability of the experiment (do repeated measurements by you or other
students/people give the same values?) It is common to repeat experiments 5 or
more times to assess reliability.
• Future Investigations
• Note this is often around 5 paragraphs minimum.
 CONCLUSION

• Refer back to the Aim and hypothesis before writing the conclusion
• Write a statement assessing the results of the experiment whilst refereeing to the
aim and hypothesis
• Think of the aim as a question and did you solve it.
• State any inferences clearly

BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Site all sources of information you used to help in your investigation
• You need to use at least one hard copy of a book/magazine
• Other sources can be from the Internet but must be cited correctly (Name of article.
URL. Date accessed)
• Set you bibliography up alphabetically
TECHNIQUES FOR TESTING
 SAMPLING
Sampling in Biology

• Estimating the size of populations

• Sampling techniques look at a section of the environment that is being studied and
use these samples to estimate the wider population

Quadrats:
• A frame that is used to randomly examine an area and estimate the abundance of
species in that area.
• Quadrats are normally 1 meter square.
• A quadrat is randomly dropped in the area being examined, and the number of
species within the quadrat are counted. This is done in a few areas and the data is
extrapolated from there.
• Quadrat sampling works well with species such as plants.

Capture-recapture:
• Method involves setting up traps for animal species, tagging them, releasing them
back into the environment and then monitoring the animal.
 DESIGNING YOUR EXPERIMENT
Ask yourself the following questions:
- What sort of data are you collecting?
- How much data will you collect?
- How will you organise this data?

COST OF SCIENCE
- Most expensive science equipment ever made was the ‘Large Hadron Collinder’.
- It cost 9 billion US dollars while running costs are about 1 billion USD per year.
- Largest and highest-energy particle collider
- Large and expensive piece of equipment needs to be built but also they will need to
think about what benefits it will provide society.
- Cost is an important factor when planning any investigation
- Is the equipment you are using easily available?, do you need to spend money on
any equipment? If experiment is going to cost too much money, then you might
have to rethink your question, do you know how to use the equipment you need to
use for the experiment?
 SCIENCE AND ETHICS
• The objective of Science can be perceived as seeking ways to
make the lives of people better.
• It is important that scientists consider the ethical implications of
what they are researching. Questions that scientists need to
consider include:
- Will this research help people?
- Will this research cause harm?
- Is the research beneficial?
• The Large Hadron Collider caused concern in regards to the
energies produced and the unknown areas of particle physics
could initiate the creation of unknown entities such as mini black
holes.
 RESEARCH TASK

• Research reasons why the scientific

community was slow to accept the work of
Marshall and Warren. In your research, inquire
further into the role of human trials in the
acceptance of a scientific theory. Present your
research as a report.
 PRIMARY AND SECONDARY DATA
Quantitative data – data that can be measured by a number, such as temperature or time
Qualitative data – data that cannot be expressed as a number, such as what football team a
person suggests.
- Most of your data will be quantitative
Interpreting Data
- TIPS: Convert your table of data into a graph first before you interpret or analyse your data.
- Use words such as: increase, decrease, plateau, draw relationships (Link x and y axis) when
explaining
- You should ask yourself the following questions:
Is your experimental data in a table?
Can your data be graphed?
What relationship does your graph show?
Explaining your results
- Establish what the data is trying to show
- WHY is this happening?
- Explain new areas of potential research
- What trends does your data show
 REPORTING
- Provide the reader all relevant information about the
experiment
- Include your methodology, data and how this data was used
- Most scientific investigations are written up as scientific
papers. These papers are then peer reviewed which is where
experts in the same or similar fields review the research
- One of the key parts of the peer-review process is ensuring
that the data and conclusions made are VALID.
- Once the paper has passed peer review, it can be published in
a scientific journal.
 Report Title
Type of information
Source of information
Summary of the report
Purpose of the report
What measures were taken to
reduce error?
What language style was used
How was the report presented and Abstract (summary of results)
structured Methodology, data and analysis explained
Results in table and graphical form
Discussion comparing results to other investigations
References Listed