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Question/Problem
 Research
 Variables
 Hypothesis
 Materials
 Procedure
 Data/Analysis
 Conclusion

Purpose of performing
the experiment,
generally due to an
observation
 Must be a “scientific”
question

› Precise and based on
an observation
› Answered through
research,
experiments,
observations

Research for
background
information
› Find out what other
scientists have
discovered
› May lead to a
hypothesis
Any factor that can affect the outcome
of an experiment
 There are three types control,
independent, and dependent variables
 Control variables are the factors that are
kept constant for the experimental and
control group

Independent variable
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Dependent variables
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There can only be one for the experiment
to be valid
It is the factor that you change
Sometimes called the manipulated
variable
The experiment is designed around this
variable
It is graphed on the x-axis
There is generally one but at times there
may be more than one dependent
variable
It is the factor that you are watching for
It is sometimes called the responding
variable
It is graphed on the y-axis

Bob wonders how
temperature affects
the amount of salt
that dissolves in
water. From prior
research, he believes
that hot water will
dissolve more salt.
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Independent variabletemperature change
Dependent variableamount of salt
dissolved
Control variable-initial
amount of salt,
amount of water, size
of beakers
muppet.wikia.com
Control group is the group with the
standard set-up, which is used for
comparison
 Experimental group is the group that has
the standard set-up except the variable
being tested is changed
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
Bob wonders how
temperature affects
the amount of salt
that dissolves in
water. From prior
research, he believes
that hot water will
dissolve more salt.

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Control group-water
at room temperature
Experimental groupswater at 40°C, 60°C,
80°C
http://biologycorner.com/worksheets/
controls.html
http://sciencespot.net/Media/scimeth
odconvar.pdf
www.clker.com
Testable solution to the
question/problem
 Can be written as an if…then statement
which involves using the independent
and dependent variables in the
statement


Bob wonders how
temperature affects
the amount of salt
that dissolves in
water. From prior
research, he believes
that hot water will
dissolve more salt.
If the temperature of
the water is 80°C,
then it will dissolve
more salt than room
temperature water.
Or….
 The 80°C water will
dissolve more salt
than room
temperature water.
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Simply list the materials that
would be used in the
experiment
It should be written as a list
It doesn’t need to be
numbered or bulleted

Bob’s experiment materials
list
Materials
4 beakers (same size)
table salt
water
balance
weighing dish
spatula
graduated cylinder
thermometer
pot
hot plate
Step-by-step process for
experiment
 It should be written brief
and concise
 It should be written with
numbers instead of
bullets or in paragraph
form

Bob’s experiment
example procedure
Procedure
1. Pour 50ml of water into
a beaker
2. Measure 20 g of salt and
place it in the beaker
3. Wait 2 minutes.
4. Use the refractometer to
measure the salinity of
the water.
5. Record your results
etc.

Information that is obtained from
performing the experiment
 Data is your set of observations which
can be quantitative or qualitative
 Observations are things that you sense
which can be something you see, hear,
taste, feel, and smell
 It is normally displayed in a table
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QuaNtitative
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QuaLitative
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Information that is measurable and uses
units
Ex. 10ml, 20°C,2m, 10s
Information that is more descriptive
Ex. red, smells like cinnamon, bitter, fizzes

Sometimes it is
necessary to graph
your data. In this case,
the independent
variable is placed on
the x-axis and the
dependent variable is
placed on the y-axis
Y dependent
x independent

Taking a look at your data and
interpreting for its importance and to see
if there is a pattern from the data
http://sciencespot.net/Media/scimthd_olympics.pdf
It explains the relationship between the
variables (independent and dependent)
 It also tells whether or not the hypothesis
was supported

To be sure that your experiment is valid
several trials should be done. For our
class, at least three trials should be done.
 Trails means performing the experiment
several times.
 This ensures that your results are
accurate
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