Chapter 18: Procedures and Methods: Your Recipe for success! “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

Introduction A science experiment is very much like a recipe. It should list all the ingredients along with the quantities. How much of this, how much of that? How long do you let the experiment run? When do you make your intervention (your independent variable)? Another scientist should be able to follow your recipe and come up with the same results. Even if something seems obvious to you, it may not be to a person who is performing your experiment for the first time. It seems a bit backward, but it is actually easier to write your methods and procedures before you make your supplies list. That way you can go back and check to see if you might have missed anything that should be added to your list. Also, remember to do this with a cheerful heart as unto God. Plan how you will honor him in your work.

Practice Who was successful and who was not? Why? You will need a partner for this one. We are going to practice writing down instructions for making a sandwich. You will be writing the instructions on a sheet of paper and giving it to your partner. They will follow them exactly and hopefully you will have a successful sandwich. Who was successful and who was not? Why?

Tips for making procedures work well: Now try writing down the steps you are going to follow to do your experiment: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. … Tips for making procedures work well: You must be able to repeat it! Set a certain length of time that you will allow the experiment to run. Know when you are done! Divide things into clear steps. Little pieces are much easier to handle than trying to tackle the whole process at once. Outline all the safety precautions you take. Make sure you point out the step where you will be taking your measurements! Make it very clear as to how those measurements are done and recorded. Describe the steps you are taking to control all other variables so that the only thing you are testing is your independent variable. Define any terms you are using that are specific to you experiment. This will make it easier for the judge to understand. If you are using statistics to evaluate your data, you must plan them ahead of time. Continue on to the next chapter for more help with this.

Remember to write in your prayer journal and scientific notebook!! It is really important to record your plans for your methods in your journal!! Even if your plans change and you do your experiment differently, it is still critical to record these ideas now. Don’t forget to write down how you are going to do your measurements and collect your data. This is the most important part of the process!