MYP Lab Guide
This is a detailed guide to the MYP Criterion B and C
Lab. Year 2
Use this to guide yourself in each section of the lab
design and analysis.
The examples are there to help you learn how to
describe, explain and analyse your lab.
For more about these MYP Command Terms use this
tool
MYP Criterion B
The Lab Design
Research Question
This is your question. What do you want to investigate? It should be a
relationship, such as the effect of ______ on _______
Example: I want to investigate the relationship between how high the temperature is that I
cook pasta and how fast the pasta cooks.
Example: I will test the effect of increasing the temperature I cook pasta on the time it takes
for the pasta to cook.
In both examples, the independent variable (IV) is the temperatures you are
setting while the dependent variable (DV) is how long it takes to cook the pasta.
Introduction
This is your reason for the question. Why do you want to investigate the
relationship between your independent variable and dependent variable? This
could also be something you’ve observed and are interested in.
Example: Whenever you read directions for cooking pasta, it always says to let the
water boil, then put your pasta in. But what if I put the pasta in with the water, then turn
on the heat? Which of the settings, 200, 225, 250, 275 or 300 ℃ will cook the pasta the
fastest? I want to know this because I’ve wondered why the directions always say to
boil the water first, and keep the water on a high temperature.
Independent Variable
The independent variable is the variable in the experiment that you are
changing. Ideally you are looking for changing this five times.
You should always say: What it is, how you will change it, and in what
increments. Increments means: are you increasing or decreasing by 10 seconds?
10 mm? 10 ml?
Example: My independent variable is the temperature I will cook the pasta. I will
change the independent variable by degrees, starting with 200, 225, 250, 275, and
300℃stove top.
Dependent Variable
The dependent variable is what you will MEASURE.
My dependent variable is ___________.
I will measure my dependent variable by _______________.
I will repeat my measurements ______ times to be more accurate/reliable.
Example: My dependent variable is how long it takes to cook the pasta. I will measure my
dependent variable by using a timer in seconds. I will repeat my measurements 5 times to be
more accurate/reliable.
The Controlled Variables
The controls are conditions that could affect your dependent variable if they are allowed
to change.
You need to outline these so you can collect ACCURATE DATA!
What does Accurate mean? Brainstorm: Truthful, 100% correct, realistic, reliable!!
So, if you have WEIRD NUMBERS, all up and down, it isn’t ACCURATE. Weird Numbers
are Outliers! This means you have not controlled something and it’s impacting your data!
Controls
What I want to control
How I will control it
Why I need to control
Example of Controls for Cooking Pasta
What I want to control
How I will control it
Why I need to control
Volume of water
I will measure the amount of water with a graduated
cylinder
I need to control the amount of water because if
there is different amounts of water, this will impact
how long it takes for the pasta to cook. If there is
more water, it will take longer, and if there is less
water, it will take less time. And this would affect
my time it takes for the pasta to cook.
Type of pasta
I will say to use macaroni pasta or “elbow pasta”
I need to control the shape and size of the pasta
because if there is different thickness of pasta, this
will impact how long it takes for the pasta to cook. If
a pasta is thicker, it will take more time, and if it’s
thinner it will take less time.
Mass of pasta
I will use the same amount of kilograms of pasta
I need to control the amount of kilograms of pasta
because if there is a different amount of pasta, this
will impact the amount of time it takes to cook. This
is because the more pasta, the longer it takes to
cook, and the less pasta, the less time it takes to
cook.
Hypothesis/Prediction
This is what you think you will see happen.
I predict if I increase/decrease __________ then ____________ will _________.
Example: I predict if I increase the temperature for cooking pasta, then my pasta will cook faster the higher
the temperature.
Scientific Reasoning
This is why you think your prediction/hypothesis is going to show you a trend.
This is because _______________.
Other information that support my prediction is _______________.
Example: This is because the hotter the temperature that something is going to be cooked at, the faster it
will cook whatever you are cooking. The hotter temperature will heat up the molecules faster than the low
temperature. Other information that supports my prediction is that increasing the temperature increases
the rate of reaction because the particles collide more often causing a faster reaction.
Materials List
This is always numbered, or bulleted. You should list all the materials someone
will need.
Example
●
●
●
●
●
●
1500 grams of elbow macaroni
1 stainless steel 5 liter pot
Room temperature sink water
Stove top with the ability to measure High, Medium, and Low temperatures
Stopwatch
Hot mit
Method
The method is always written in numbered steps. It is always clear. It has to also have
your controls and the materials you are using.
Example:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Using an electronic balance, measure exactly 100 grams of the elbow macaroni.
Ensure that you are using the same type of pasta and same brand of pasta for each of your trails.
Using a graduated cylinder, measure exactly 1 liter of water
Pour both the 100 grams of elbow macaroni and 1 liter of water into the stainless steel pot
Set the pot on the stove top at low temperature.
Set a stopwatch
Check off and on to see if the pasta is done. Done should be soft all the way through when bitten into.
As soon as it is soft all the way through, stop your timer, and put on the hot mit, then remove the pot from the heat.
Record the time it took for your pasta to reach the soft when bitten stage.
Cool the pot to room temperature, and repeat the process for 4 more trails of data.
When you have completed all five trails of the data at low temperatures, repeat the same procedure, but for medium
and high temperatures for a total of five trails for each temperature.
The bolded parts of this method are the controlled variables.
Method: Safety
In your method, you also need to outline any safety precautions you might feel are important. If
there are some, you have to say, but if there aren’t any, you also have to say.
There are some/no risks in this investigation because ___________
I will stay safe by _________
I will keep others safe by ____________
Example: There are some risks in this investigation because I am going to be using a heat and hot water. I will stay safe by
staying with my experiment so I can be sure it won’t be touched or accidentally toppled over. I will keep others safe by
letting them know I will be heating water in my pot and it might burn them if they were to touch it with their bare hands.
MYP Criterion C
Analysing the Data
Qualitative Data
When you are collecting data on your investigation, you also need to describe what is
happening during the trails.
I made these observations while carrying out my experiment _____________
Example: I made these observations while carrying out my experiment. While the hottest
temperature of cooking the pasta the water stayed at a constant temperature of boiling, the lower
temperature didn’t seem to reach a rolling boil and instead the water turned cloudy as the pasta
slowly cooked.
Quantitative Data: Table
Quantitative Data: Example Table
– As you can
see, all my trials
are here, plus
my averages
– The IV is
clearly labeled.
– The DV is
also clearly
labeled with
units
– And, I have
my Figure 1 at
the bottom
Independent
Variable
(temperature
in Celsius)
Dependent Variable (time in seconds)
Average
seconds
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Trial 4
Trial 5
200
874
877
880
876
861
876
225
749
760
757
752
754
754
250
630
634
639
632
638
635
275
486
479
482
478
484
482
300
408
410
407
412
409
409
Figure 1: Temperature Vs. Time it takes to cook pasta
Quantitative Data: Processed Data Table
Quantitative Data: Example Processed Data Table
●
As you can see, I only show the
IV and the
Temperature
averages.
●
I’ve also added the Figure 2 with my
Independent and Dependent Variables again.
●
I’ve added my sample calculation for finding
the averages
Time (seconds)
200
876
225
754
250
635
275
482
300
409
Figure 2: Temperature Vs. Time it takes to cook pasta
Example Calculation for Average: 874+877+ 880+ 876 + 861= 876
Quantitative Data: Graph
Quantitative Data: Example Graph
●
●
●
●
●
●
As you can see, my
Independent Variable is on
my X Axis: Temperature
I’ve included no units,
because the temperature
was set to high, med and
low.
My Dependent Variable is
only Y Axis: Time
I’ve included units of
seconds and shortened it to
say only secs
I’ve checked my title at the
top has the IV and DV
I’ve also included Figure 3
with my IV and DV again.
Figure 3: Temperature Vs. Time it takes to cook pasta
Patterns
Interpret data and describe the results
You need to use these sentences stems.
My data shows that _________________ (this is what your data is showing and should make a claim.(This should be 5-6 sentences)
More sentence starters to help with this could be:
In Figure 1, you can see that______________ .
Or, Looking at Figure 1, you can see that ________________
Another example of how my data shows that ____________ is in Figure 2. The average in Figure 2 show that ___________
Also in Figure 3, you can also see how the averages show a ________________
My data suggests that ________________ (this is what you think your data means and should have 5-6 sentences as well.) You can also use the
suggestions above to talk about data points here as well.
This might be because _____________ (this is another reason why you think your data means something)
Another source that supports this reason is ___________ which says _________. (this is from the research on your topic you did for your research
question and hypothesis).
I conclude that this experiment has/has not helped me solve my original problem. This is because _____________. (this is where you might
discuss how your data answers your research question, or if it doesn’t)
Patterns: Example
My data shows that at the lowest temperature,m 200 ℃, my pasta took longer to cook. Compared to the high heat, of 300 ℃ the low temperature
took nearly double the amount of time to cook. In Figure 1 you can see that at 300℃ the pasta was able to cook the pasta in 408,410,407, 412, 409
seconds with an average of 409 seconds. In contrast, at 200 ℃, 874,877, 880, 876, and 861 seconds and it took an average time of 875 seconds.
Looking at Figure 2, you can see that the average times keep on becoming longer the lower the temperature. For example, while the lowest
temperature of 200 ℃ took an average of 875, seconds to cook the pasta, the medium temperature of 250 took longer to cook the pasta, with an
average time of 659 seconds., and the highest temperature was able, on average, to cook the pasta in only 409 seconds. That means that it took
the highest temperature less than half of the time to cook the pasta compared to the lowest temperature.
The same pattern is visible in Figure 3, with a clear increase in the time it takes the pasta to cook in relation to the lower temperature. My data
suggests that the higher the temperature, the faster the pasta will cook. This might be because the increase in temperature a pplies more heat to the
molecules of the water and they begin to move much faster than the lower temperatures. This increase in movement will allow the pasta to cook
faster. Another source that supports this is that when the pasta begins to heat, the hotter the water, the faster the starches in the pasta will heat up
and cook the pasta. I conclude that this experiment has helped me solve my original problem. This is because I was able to see that there was a
relationship between how high the temperature is to how fast the pasta cooked.
**** If you want a higher grade (this is just a 6( you should add more points of data and more research to support your ideas.
Validity of Hypothesis
Discuss the validity of your hypothesis
You need to use these sentence stems:
I predicted that ___________. (You need to restate your hypothesis)
The data supports, partially supports, does not support my hypothesis. I think this because
____________. (Here you need to evaluate your hypothesis considering many possibilities. You must use your data
points, specifically, to discuss whether your hypothesis was supported or not. This section should also include science to
support your evaluation. *****It will feel like you are REPEATING yourself, and this is particularly important! Since in your
patterns section you were discussing your points of data, now you are AGAIN talking about data, but through the lens of your
hypothesis and the research you did for your hypothesis.
Validity of Hypothesis: Example
I predicted that if I increased the temperature that I used to cook pasta, the pasta would cook faster at the
higher temperature.
The data supports my hypothesis. I think this because my trials showed that when I cooked the pasta at a
higher temperature, the pasta cooked faster. For example, at 300 degrees celsius, my pasta cooked the
fastests at 6.79 seconds while at 200 ℃ it cooked at 14.36 seconds. It took 8.01 seconds at 275 200 ℃,and
then kept increasing in time the lower the temperature. There is a clear trend here, with an increase in time
with a decrease in temperature. There is also the opposite trend with a clear decrease in time the higher
the temperature. I also noticed that my trails were all very close together. My trails were all within 3-4
seconds of each other and I had no outliers. This helped me answer my question and helped me see if my
hypothesis was valid. My research support this idea as well. When you apply heat to matter, the more
heat, the faster the matter moves. In my situation, the more heat, the more the water temperature rose,
and the faster the pasta cooked.
Validity of Method
Discuss the Validity of your method
You need to use these sentence stems:
The method I followed did/did not/partially allowed me to answer my research question. I think this because
____________.
Some strengths of the method were _______________.
Some weaknesses of the method were _____________.
Something I found difficult in carrying out the method was ________.
If I wanted to test the same problem again, I would/would not use the same method. This is because ___________.
*****This is not about how YOU messed up your data collection, rather what you should have written in your
method to help you to collect BETTER data!
Validity of Method: Example
The method I followed did allow me to answer my research question. I think this because I was able to see a trend in my data, with none of my trails far apart. Each
trail, was, in fact, within a few seconds of each other. This makes me think that my method was a good method.
Some strengths of the method were using the same pasta, measuring the mass of the pasta and using the same amount of water. These all helped me control exactly
what I was changing and not changing something that would impact my results.
Some weaknesses of the method were that I didn’t know exactly when the pasta was done because I had to keep testing one piece very often. This was a big
problem because the pasta might have been done before I actually realized it was done. Also, because the pasta was hot, and the water was hot and the pot was
hot, each time I tested it, I had a few seconds before I could actually tell if it was done. So while it might have been done, it might have been a few seconds before I
found out it was done.
Something I found difficult in carrying out the method was making sure I was testing the pasta quickly enough so that I stopped the stopwatch exactly when the pasta
was done. This was also one of my weaknesses in my method as I discussed above. This meant that sometimes I might have written down the wrong time for the
pasta to be done at, and this might have changed my results.
If I wanted to test the same problem again, I would use the same method., but perhaps change a few things This is because I think the method helped collect
accurate data and helped to answer my question. I think one thing I would change is how I knew when the pasta was done. I could have come up with a way to test
the pasta being done by if it was looping around a spoon when I stirred it, or when it turned soft enough to loop around a spoon. This might have helped me through
the difficulties of managing the hot pot, hot water and hot pasta and increased the reliability of my data.
Improvements
Describe improvements or extensions to the method
You need to use these sentence stems:
I could improve the method by ___________
I would make these improvements because __________
This investigation has made me think of a new question, which is___________
I would like to find out more about ________ because ___________.
Improvements: Example
I could improve the method by making the water temperature the different temperatures and only cook the
pasta for a set period of time, then see if it cooks all the way through. I would make these improvements
because I wondered what affect the different temperatures had on the pasta, but wasn’t sure if changing
the stove top was the best method for testing how long pasta takes to cook.
This investigation has made me think of a new question, which is what relationship is there between the
ingredients in the pasta to how long it takes to cook. I would like to find out more about how the
ingredients in the pasta affect the cooking time because I think if there are eggs in the pasta, this might
increase the cooking time, but on the other hand, perhaps the eggs add a leavening that would make the
pasta lighter or not as dense, and therefore the space between the molecules might be farther apart, and
allow the pasta to cook faster.