Experimental Plan? Who needs a plan anyway??

What is an Experimental Plan? Specific techniques used in conducting an experiment  In other words: The step by step method used to test your Hypothesis What is your Hypothesis? IF (we do this), THEN (this will estimate will happen) statement  A good plan will be complete and easy for someone else to duplicate (complete). Think of a recipe that you would use to cook, this is an experimental plan that anyone should/could be able to complete on their own.

Step - by - Step Detailed, over share what you are doing Exact measurements Add water - WRONG WAY Add 1 cup of water to your mixture - RIGHT WAY Specific Items you are using Example: Plant - What type of plant? In order of how they must be completed to be successful You may change this up as you try out your experiment Description and size of all experimental and control groups  3 small bonsai plants Must tell how you will change your independent variable and how you will measure that change Explain how you measure change in dependent variables Explain how controlled variables will be maintained Tell specifically how many times you will repeat the experiment (Recommendation at least three times)

Recipe = Procedure Think making a sandwich or baking a cake You can pick up the recipe and make what the recipe asks by following the directions carefully You don't have to ask any questions, it is precise and exact If you are missing a step, someone else would have a hard time figuring out what to do Have  a parent/guardian/sibling read over your steps to make sure they understand

Recipe Example Ingredients = Material List 1 cup butter, softened 1 cup white sugar 1 cup packed brown sugar 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons hot water 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup chopped walnuts Directions = Procedure Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

Things to think about Where will you conduct your experiment? Have you defined all of your *key words* (Examples: What does healthy mean to your group? How are you defining Fast Food?) If you are unsure ask :) You are going to have to do your experiment more than once, a good recommendation is three times.  Example: If you are doing something on the growth of plants, then you should do the experiment on at least three plants that are similar, that would be equivalent to doing the experiment three times.

We are doing a survey... You need a good representation of the population (specific people) you are testing. Do you have a specific age group, gender, economic class, ethnicity, religion in mind for who you are testing? Be VERY CLEAR! (Example: Caucasian Females, ages 13-19, living in Annandale) MINIMUM 50 people. (Margin of error is still 14%)  100 people. Margin of error 10% 200 people. Margin of error 7% 500 people. Margin of error 4.5% As you can tell, the more people you survey, the smaller your margin of error.

Where do you start your PLAN? Think through how you will start your experiment. What prep needs to be done before you even start? In a recipe this would be pre-heating the oven. Talk the steps through with your group, what will you do next? If you need to do steps over again, you don't have to re-write the step Example: Step 1: Move right foot forward Step 2: Move left foot forward Step 3: Repeat Step 1 to continue walking Don't get frustrated. You will have time to make changes, that is why we are doing a draft, then a final.

Questions to talk about with your group! How will you change your independent variable (this is what you want to change in the community)? How will you measure the impact that this change has on your dependent variable? What are your controlled (constant) variables? Are you able to control them and keep them constant? Each time you perform your experiment it is called a run or trial (you will need at least three, the more you do the better your results, and smaller amount of error). For some experiments you can run all of your trials at once, for others you cannot do this. When the trial involves testing or surveying different groups of people, you don't need to repeat the test, just make sure you have enough people participating.

And now what... Every good experiment compares different groups of trials or runs with each other. Remember to control as many variables as you can. You want the least amount of these changes for each trial or run. SUPPLIES! Make sure you know what you want and need to make this experiment successful.  SAFETY! How will you keep yourself and your group member's safe during this experiment.

Experimental Procedure Checklist Have you included a description and size for all experimental and control groups? Have you included a step-by-step list of all procedures? Have you described how to change the independent variable and how to measure that change? Have you explained how the controlled variables will be maintained at a constant value?  Have you explained how to measure the resulting change in the dependent variable(s) How many times will you repeat your experiment? Can someone else replicate your experiment? Do you know how you are going to collect your data? What are you looking for if it is not a measurable thing you are testing? 

What to do once you start testing??? SCIENCE PROJECT LOGBOOK or NOTEBOOK!!! Use any notebook that you want Label your log book Make a table of contents page Organize your Table of Contents Number all of your pages before you start DATE every entry Draw pictures of what you see Write down everything- the good, the bad, the ugly! Glue, tape, or staple loose papers into it Write Reflections Include changes made and why you made them!!

During the Experiment... Record your observations- anything, everything! Take pictures or draw pictures It's okay if you make mistakes or it doesn't go right. Make sure you figure out how to fix it!  Stay organized. Follow your Directions, if you make any changes, note them, and change your procedure.

Checklist for Conducting your Experiment Did you take detailed notes about your observations and record them in your notebook? Did you collect data using a data table? Were you consistent, careful, and accurate in your measurements? Were you careful to insure that you controlled your control variables? If you ran into any unexpected problems, did you adjust your experimental procedure accordingly? Did you keep detailed notes of everything? Can you analyze your data to come to a conclusion?