RESEARCH METHODS
&
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
(Plan out what to do during the 110 minutes
you have to complete this project!)
Scientific Questions
• Rewrote questions!
• ALL Questions contain comparisons.
• NOW: Figure out how to answer these
questions in 110minutes.
Step 1: Measuring vs Manipulating
• Figuring out what you are changing and
what you are going to measure (and
HOW!)
• ALL Questions contain comparisons.
– Contains:
• One variable that you are manipulating
(changing)
• One variable that you are measuring (observing)
Step 1: Measuring vs Manipulating
• EXAMPLE:
– “Do snails move more in low or high salinity
water?”
• What are you MANIPULTING or changing in
your experiment?
• What are you MEASURING or what effect are
you going to look at?
Step 1: Measuring vs Manipulating
• EXAMPLE:
– “Is there a greater abundance of seagulls on
grass or concrete areas?”
• What are you MANIPULTING or changing in
your experiment?
• What are you MEASURING (OBSERVING) or
what effect are you going to look at?
Step 1: Measuring vs Manipulating
• EXAMPLE:
– “Is there a greater abundance of seagulls on
grass or concrete areas?”
• What are you MANIPULTING or changing in
your experiment?
• What are you MEASURING (OBSERVING) or
what effect are you going to look at?
Step 2: What is the procedure for
setting up this manipulating?
• EXAMPLE:
– “Do snails move more in low or high salinity
water?”
HIGH
LOW
Step 2: What is the procedure for
setting up this manipulating?
• EXAMPLE:
– “Is there a greater abundance of seagulls on
grass or concrete areas?”
GRASS
CONCRETE
Step 3: What are we measuring and
how are we measuring this?
• EXAMPLE:
HIGH
– “Do snails move more
in low or high salinity
water?”
LOW
• Measuring MOVEMENT
- How?
Step 3: What are we measuring and
how are we measuring this?
GRASS
• EXAMPLE:
– “Is there a greater
abundance of seagulls
on grass or concrete
areas?”
• Measuring ABUNDANCE
- How?
CONCRETE
Step 4: Decisions, decisions, decisions
• How many replicates (repeat areas or
organisms which your are
observing/measuring)?
• How many measurements are you going to
perform? How often?
Step 4: Decisions, decisions, decisions
HIGH
• How many snails?
• How often are you going to measure
LOW
movement? How are
you going to determine
movement?
Step 4: Decisions, decisions, decisions
GRASS
• How big are the areas
you will survey? Should
they be of equal size?
• How many counts will
you do? How will you
count birds, so you
only count them once?
CONCRETE
Step 5: BRIEF EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
1) Obtain three containers. In each container, I will
put three different salinities (one with higher
than average, one with average salinity, and
one with lower than average salinity water). I
will measure the salinity to know exact
numbers.
1) In each container I will place 3 snails and I will
paint their shells with nail polish in order to tell
the difference.
Step 5: EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
3) I will measure snail movement using a ruler for
each snail every 15 minutes for 90 minutes
(collecting 6 measurements for each snail).
4) I will average the distance traveled for all snails
in the same water type. I will compare the high,
normal, and low salinity snails to see if snails
move faster in high or low salinity water.
difference.
TODAY….
1) Go back to SAME GROUPS as last time. In each folder,
1 question is marked as the question you will
concentrate and eventually research!!!!
2) Your groups questions is circles in purple ink.
1) In folder is a worksheet to be filled out completely!
1) Answer all the questions!
1) Next time I come in we will be refining these methods
– THE MORE OF THE WORK YOU GET DONE TODAY
THEN THE LESS YOU WILL HAVE TO DO LATER!!!!