Name: ____________________________
Group Members:____________________________
Block: ___________________
Date: __________
Paper Airplanes & The Scientific Method
Background Research
What are important characteristics of a paper airplane? Discuss what you already know about
paper airplanes. From your past experiences with them what did you notice?
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Identify the Problem
Your task is to design the “best” paper airplane. The first thing you have to do is decide what best
means. This is called an operational definition – the definition you will use during this specific
investigation.
For the purpose of this investigation, we will define “best” as the plane that can fly the furthest.
We will not be concerned about height, loops, or straight flight.
Now, as a group, decide what you would like to test: the length of the plane, the weight of the plane, the
style of the plane, position of weights on the plane, or something else.
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The Big Question…
This defines what relationship you are trying to isolate and examine.
How does _______________________ affect __________________________???
Hypothesis
Based on how you defined what you know about paper airplanes, write a hypothesis on the line
below regarding which plane you think will fly the furthest and why. You should be careful to make sure
that your preconceptions do not affect how you conduct the experiment because of bias.
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Experimental Procedure
When you design an experiment, you must first pick one thing to test. It is the first half of your
Big Question and is called the Independent Variable – it is what you, the scientist will change or test.
Everything else that could possibly change, but doesn’t is called a Controlled Variable. Scientists control
as many variables as they can so that they can be sure that the results of the investigation are due to the
change in the one variable that is tested. The result observed and measured is called the Dependent
Variable and is the 2nd half of the Big Question. Multiple trials help make sure that your data is
consistent. If you only do an experiment one time, you might get some very unusual data for many
different reasons. Repeating the experiment allows you to be confident in your findings.
State your Independent variable:_____________________________________________
Dependent Variable: ______________________________________________________
What steps will you take to control other variables?
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Are there any that are uncontrolled?
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Collect & Record Data
Airplane Flight Distance (meters)
(Insert your IV here)
Trial 1
Trial 2
__________________
Trial 3
Your group set up the lab and collected data together. However, everything below the line must be
done on your own!!
Analyze Data
 The first step in analyzing data is to organize your data and do any necessary calculations. In this
case, all that is needed is to calculate the average distances.
o All data tables have some things in common
 The independent variable is in the first column.
 The dependent variable is in the last column.
 Each column is labeled to identify the variables.
 Units of measurement are included in the labels (not in the cells).
 The data table has a descriptive title of the form:
 How does X affect Y?
 What is the Effect of X on Y?
 Y vs X

A graph can help you visualize the patterns, trends, and relationships in your experiment. It is
very important to use the right kind of graph when analyzing data:
o Discrete variables have a set number of possibilities (shape, shoe size, location, etc) and
should be represented by a Bar Graph.
o Continuous variables have an infinite number of possibilities (time, length, speed, etc)
and should be represented by a Line Graph.
o All graphs have some things in common:
 The independent variable is on the X-axis (bottom).
 The dependent variable is on the Y-axis (side).
 Each axis is labeled to identify the variables with units in ( )
 Each axis has consistent intervals, which are also labeled.
 The information on the graph is spread out so that most of the graph is used.
 The graph has a descriptive title of the form:
 How does X affect Y?
 What is the Effect of X on Y?
 Y vs X
Draw Conclusions
The following items should be addressed in a good conclusion:
1. Results are described and explained, and the hypothesis is accepted or rejected. (Note: A hypothesis is
never “right” or “wrong” – it is either supported by the data or it is not supported by the data).
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2. The assumptions and limitations of the experiment
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3. How the investigation can be improved
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4. Other questions raised during the investigation that could be explored in future investigations
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5. Applications/usefulness of findings.
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Communicate Results
Be prepared to spend a few minutes discussing the results of your investigation with your
scientific colleagues (classmates).
Data Presentation:
Airplane Flight Distance (meters)
(Insert your IV here)
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Average
Distance