MORE
Charlotte Rodeen-Dickert www.crdesqwriter.com
St. Jerome School
October 29, 2013
1

Why is Ms. Fiedler-Ross making you do this???
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
It’s the most fun she has all year
She really enjoys grading projects
She lives to torment you with endless work
She wants you to learn valuable skills and information, as well as to have the satisfaction of a job well done
All of the above

3

4
• Make sure it all connects.
• Lead the audience through the project with clear headings.
• Consider font and image size.
Purpose… Data and Observations Results
Hypothesis…
Procedure…
Conclusion

( http://lukassciencefair.info/display.html
)

Experiment – “ the systematic procedure carried out under controlled conditions in order to discover an unknown effect, to test or establish a hypothesis, or to illustrate a known effect .”
( https://www.moresteam.com/toolbox/design-of-experiments.cfm
)
 Not limited to only the PROCEDURE!
 Tie it into the SCIENTIFIC METHOD …

FACTORS
Variables
What are you changing?
What else is possibly changing?
LEVELS
Settings
How much are you changing it?
RESPONSE
Results
What happened?
PURPOSE
HYPOTHESIS
PROCEDURE
DATA
OBSERVATIONS
RESULTS
CONCLUSIONS

For singers on…
“A critical performance component is song choice, or, in this case, something I like to call hypothesis selection.”
“The song was too big.”
“You didn’t do enough with it.” “You got lost along the way.”
FOR YOUR PROJECT…
• Narrow down a broad idea to a single question
• Make sure it allows for enough trials
• Keep it simple and clear!

• Start with a broad idea…
• Look for…
• Categories of test subject or item
• Different variables (independent and dependent)
• Varying levels (or ranges) for the variables
• Then select ONE independent and ONE dependent variable

Effect of Temperature on Materials

𝑑𝑙 = 𝐿 𝑜 𝛼 𝑡
1
− 𝑡 𝑜
“change in length”
“change in temperature
“original length”
“linear expansion coefficient”
Hypothesis:

• Again, keep it simple…
• Always stick to your HYPOTHESIS!
• Measure the right variables (and only those variables!)
• Fix other variables (i.e., minimize sources of error )

Hypothesis:
IF…….. THEN…..
Measure:
Fix:

Hypothesis:
PROCEDURE

15
TEXT
“The object accelerates with time.”
Time (s)
2
3
0
1
4
5
Acceleration
(m/s^2)
0
10
40
90
160
250
Accl.
( m/s^2)
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0
Time (s)
5
**Make sure all tell the same story!

16
• In the Hypothesis , “testing” is not an independent variable.
• Sources of Error includes things that actually did happen in the experimental proceedings to impact the data, as well as potential things (whether or not they actually occurred).
• How did you eliminate these?
• If something goes awry, discuss it and explain how it may have affected the results.
Don’t fudge the data!!!

Some common errors (not caught by Spellcheck):
• trial and trail
• effect and affect
• it’s and its
Also read carefully for flow, correct grammar, and punctuation!

18
• Be clear about the accuracy of your measurement.
(e.g., 6.31 cm)
That’s 0.01 cm!
(thickness of a piece of paper)
• Measure the appropriate variable for the experiment.
Δ h h
ALWAYS USE THE CORRECT UNITS!

19
• Organize your data in the worksheet.
• Use color and highlighting to help keep track of things.
• Use built-in functions when possible.
• Always do a “sanity check” of calculations.
• Critically evaluate your numbers when troubleshooting.
• Choose the right chart for the job.
• Watch out for “chart junk”!

21
Calculation Example – Averaging Data
• 𝐴𝑣𝑔 =
(𝑥
1
+𝑥
2
+𝑥
3
+⋯𝑥 𝑛
) 𝑛
Equation not entered correctly (order of operations)!
(B2+B3+B4+B5+ B6/5 )
Note decimal places!
(should not be more than those in the measurements!)
Correction:
10 + 12 + 10.5 + 13.2 + 11.2
𝐴𝑣𝑔 =
5
→→ = ( (10+12+10.5+13.2+11.2) /5)

22
• Chart Wizard provides a good start, but make your own modifications to best present the data…
• Choose the most effective type of graph.
• Use an appropriate scale.
• Properly label the data.
• Choose a suitable color scheme.
• Use correct units.
• If producing multiple graphs, be consistent with all of this between graphs.