Important Info

1. ASK A TESTABLE QUESTION

What do you notice, what do you wonder about? Think about how you can pose a question in a way that you can make observations and collect data to help you better understand a who, what, where, when or how question.

2. BACKGROUND RESEARCH

Find out what is already known before you design your study. Research online, check out books from the library, or ask a teacher. Then conduct an experiment to confirm what other people say or design a new one.

3. MAKE A PREDICTION OR OBSERVATION YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT

What do you think will happen? A hypothesis is an educated guess on how things work.

4. TEST YOUR PREDICTION OR OBSERVATION WITH AN EXPERIMENT

Set up a way to test your prediction or to describe your observation. Select the right tools for the job. Think about what type of data is needed to inform your question and then consider what tools/instruments will be useful to collect data.

5. PLAN YOUR TIMELINE CAREFULLY

Figure out how long it will take to prepare and conduct your experiment.

6. RECORD YOUR DATA

Determine how you will record your data in a data log. Consider making (or downloading) a data sheet to make sure you record all of the data in a consistent manner. It may also be informative to take pictures or video each step of the way.

7. ANALYZE THE RESULTS

What did you find out? Collect measurements from your experiment and analyze this data to generate your results. These may be reported in the form of numbers, words, and drawings; use whatever ways you think will help you to better understand the meaning of the data you collected.

8. IMPLICATION OF THE RESULTS

How does your analysis inform your question(s)? Does the data support or refute a hypothesis? What limits or barriers did you find? What new questions does this experience bring up for you?

9. REPORT YOUR CONCLUSION

Create a poster, make a display, or label parts of your experiment so that you can share what you have learned with others.

SUGGESTED STEPS TO PREPARE: