Writing a Research Plan

After your topic is approved Record your research question in your log book Use you logbook handout for reminders of what should be included Begin conducting background research Be sure to write where you found the information so you can include it in your bibliography

What if my topic was not approved? You must still submit a research plan Research plans are a lot of work! This is a good reason to closely use the resources that have been provided to you to come up with a STRONG topic– you don’t want to do all this work only for it to be rejected You have gotten the opportunity to receive two rounds of feedback from your teacher and feedback from a peer– now it’s up to you! If you find writing any part of the research plan to be difficult, that might be a sign that your topic is weak

Writing the Research Plan Go to my teacher page to download the research plan template All the bold headings should remain, but replace the tip text and blank spaces with your own information Pull up template to show students

Rationale Why is this research important? At least a paragraph You will spend months on this It needs to be significant Do not use personal rponouns At least a paragraph Must make reference to a credible source Something you read from a reliable place (credible news source, journal articles, book, credible websites) that supports why your research/product is important

Research question(s), hypothesis(es), engineering goal(s) Research question/engineering goal This must be explicitly clear Check with someone else to make sure is well written, specific, and easy to understand Use scientific names for any organisms Do not use personal pronouns Example: Does seagrass fragmentation affect nekton abundance? (nekton=aquatic organism) Alternate hypothesis This is your typical hypothesis- proposed answer to your question. Do not use personal pronouns. Example: Seagrass fragmentation has a negative impact on nekton abundance. Null hypothesis This hypothesis acknowledges that whatever variable you are testing may have no effect/ there is no difference between x and y Example: Seagrass fragmentation has no impact on nekton abundance.

Procedure Step by step instructions for performing your experiment/building your device Like we did for you inquiry lab No personal pronouns This should be well thought out! Do not write things like “look up how to…” – this should already be done by the time you submit the plan

Materials List all materials that will be needed for you experiment Do not write things like “chemicals” – you must know exactly what you intend to use! Do not write things like “plants” – you must know exactly what you intend to use (use scientific name)! The only bacterium that is pre-approved for use in student science research projects is E. coli K-12 Must be used in school building only As you make your list, you must know exactly what the material is and how it will be used This should be no issue if you are designing an original project You must be sure that you can obtain all the materials on your list Ask me Ask your parents

Variables etc. Just like we’ve practiced in class and tested on (* means does not apply to engineering projects-may delete) Independent Variable: * Dependent Variable: * Constants: *(unless trying/comparable different products) Control group: * (unless designing something “better” than what already exists) Experimental group(s): * (unless designing something “better” than what already exists) Qualitative data: (engineering, think about how you will decide if your product works) Quantitative data: (engineering, think about how you will decide if your product works)

Risk and Safety What safety precautions should be taken?

Data analysis how will you analyze your data? how will you decide if your hypothesis is supported or not? How will your determine if what you constructed works? No personal pronouns

Data Presentation how will you present your data? what kind of graphs would best represent the data you collected?

Bibliography Your bibliography for you initial research plan will be a simple list of sources You will convert this list to a formal bibliography in the coming weeks Your formal bibliography will eventually replace your simple list so be sure everything is saved for future edits. List site/book/article Write a couple of sentences describing how source is useful so you don’t forget Review source profile sheet to consider important things about your sources

And many more! Not sure? Ask! Where can I find good sources? (some of these sites are also good to explore if you are still trying to think of a good topic) News Sites Journals (google them and make use of search features!) The Economist BBC explore science, tech, health tabs NPR Click “topics” EurekAlert! American Scientist Scientific American National Wildlife Environment Audubon Sea Frontiers/ Sea Secrets Natural History International Wildlife Audubon South Sierra Club Bulletin Oceans National Geographic Bioscience Smithsonian Science Current Health Science News Discover Search Engines Galileo Google scholar Nonfiction Books/textbooks And many more! Not sure? Ask!

ISEF – Official Science Fair Site https://student.societyforscience.org/ This website is full of information and tips about how to come up with ideas, what to do once you do, rules etc. Explore as needed

What sort of information should I be looking for? Try to think of ten keywords associated with your project If my question was “How does seagrass fragmentation affect nekton abundance?” I might list keywords like Seagrass Habitat loss and degradation Habitat fragmentation Nekton Bays and bayous Young marine life Marine habitats Fresh water habitats Coastline development Marine ecosystems The goal would be to become a mini expert on your topic and all things related If you have difficulty with this, it might be a sign of a weak topic!

Questions to ask yourself when doing background research WHAT? What causes _____ to increase/decrease? What is _____ made of? What are the characteristics of ____? What is the relationship between ____ and ____? What do we use _____ for? What ____________________________? HOW? How does ____happen? How does ____ work? How does ____ detect ____? How does one measure ____? How do we use _____? How ____________________________? WHY? Why does ____ happen? Why does ____ ____? Why __________________________? WHEN? When does _____ cause _____? When was _____ discovered? When does ______ happen? When __________________________? WHO? Who needs _____? Who discovered _____? Who invented _____? Who ___________________________? WHERE? Where does _____ occur? Where does _____ get used? Where _________________________?

You will eventually use your background information to write an introduction for your final paper General information about your topic. Related/overlapping previous research conducted about your topic that helps with understanding of broad concepts Information from studies that are directly related to your area of investigation Begin narrowing in on what your research was about and why it is important. Finally at the end of your introduction, clearly state your objective/goal The introduction will start broad and get more specific as you write It will be at least one double spaced page Keep this in mind as you search for sources

Tips You have one week MANAGE YOUR TIME WISELY Follow directions Start this weekend Follow directions Use resources that have been provided to you This PowerPoint Getting Started PowerPoint Common problems PowerPoint Suggested websites Handouts Research Plan instructions Research Plan template ISEF student handbook Log book sheet Source profile sheet Do’s and Don’ts sheet

Suggested timeline Friday/Saturday/Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday If you don’t have a topic, do your research, figure it out! Start reading articles, gathering sources, collecting background information, writing in logbook (wait to write in logbook if unapproved, take notes on separate paper) Complete part D of research plan Monday Complete parts A and B of research plan Tuesday Work on part C Wednesday Complete part C Thursday Have a peer review your plan with a critical eye Revise plan as needed Friday Submit plan to teacher