Conducting an Experiment
Name_________________________
Period__________Date___________
Purpose: Conduct a scientific experiment that uses good scientific procedures.
Scientific Question: (question we will be asking and answering)
How does the launch angle affect the distance a marble will travel?
Background Knowledge:
What do you know about angles? Brainstorm and write down your ideas.
Hypothesis:
At what angle do you think the marble will travel the greatest distance? State your
answer to the question as a hypothesis. (If…then…because)
Variables: Anything that can change or that you don’t change in and experiment.
List all that you can think of:
Materials:
marble launcher, plastic marbles, tape, metric tape measure, graph paper, ruler,
calculator
Procedure:
1. For this experiment, you will use the fifth slot of the barrel to launch the marble for
each trial. Pull the launch lever back and slip it sideways into the fifth slot. Put a marble
in the end of the barrel. The marble launcher is now ready to launch.
2. You will change the angle for each launch starting at 10 degrees and increasing 10
degrees up to 80 degrees.
3. Repeat each launch two times for each angle. Record the distance in the data table.
4. Four people are needed per launcher. Each person will have one of the tasks below:
Launching ____________________________
Measuring ____________________________
Marble Watching _______________________
Recording ____________________________
5. Make sure that the marble launcher is set back in the same place every time.
6. Use a tape measure laid out along the floor/ground to measure the distance traveled.
7. Record distances in the data table.
8. Discuss with your partners why is it important to do more than one launch at each
angle. (Repeated trials)
Data Table:
Launch Angle
(degrees)
Title: Launch Angle and Distance Data
Distance Trial 1
Distance Trial 2
Average Distance
(meters)
(meters)
(meters)
15
25
35
45
55
65
75
85
Graph: On the next page we are now going to graph the data from your data table. You
will be using the launch angle and average distance.
 launch angle- independent or manipulated (x-axis)
 average distance-dependent or responding(y-axis)
Title: ____________________________________________________
(what does the graph show)
Analyzing Data:
1. Look at your graph. At what angle does the marble attain the greatest distance?
___________________________
2. You are challenged to launch a marble to travel a distance of about 7.0 meters. At
what angle will you set the launcher? ________________________________
3. Referring to your answer for question (2), state another angle that would give you
the same distance? ______________________________________________
4. You are challenged to launch a marble at an angle of 30 degrees. At what other
angle will you get a similar distance as 30 degrees? ______________________
5. Discuss in your group why two angles can be used to reach the same distance.
6. Discuss a situation in which it would be better to use one angle rather than the
other.
7. Where there any unforeseen variables that could have effected your
investigation? __________________________________________________
8. Besides launch angle, which other variables can you change on the marble
launcher? _____________________________________________________
Exploring
1. Besides launch angle, again think of the other variables you can change on the
marble launcher?
2. Choose one of those different variables that you can change. Write an
investigative question about how that variable affects another variable.
3. Think about any background knowledge you have and briefly explain.
4. State your hypothesis to the question (If……. then….. because).
Redesign
Redisign the experiment that we did to test your new idea. In your explanation be
sure to:
- List the materials you will need to test your hypothesis and describe how to use
them.
- List the stepwise directions you will follow to do this experiment.
- Identify the manipulated variable, the responding variable, and any controls you
will use.
- Explain how the design would test your idea.