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Science Investigation Worksheet

Use this worksheet to help you plan your science investigation. Although most investigations involve controlled lab experiments, some investigations will answer questions outside the lab.This worksheet will work for both kinds of scientific investigation.

1. Choose a Project Idea (An Observation or a Question)

A key step in any science investigation process is to choose an idea that comes from a question or an observation. Consider what interests you--and this is the really important part--in the form of a testable question.

A good testable question sets up the investigation. Then it’s time to choose the details. The table below shows how testable questions could be addressed in an investigation. Any of the variables could be chosen as the changed or independent variable.

2. Conduct Background Research

Once you have a testable question, it is important to do some background research. What do scientists think they already know about the topic? What are the processes involved and how do they work? Background research can be gathered first hand from primary sources such as interviews with a teacher, scientist at a local university, or other person with specialized knowledge. Or you can use secondary sources such as books, magazines, journals, newspapers, online documents, or literature from non-profit organizations. Don’t forget to make a record of any resource used so that credit can be given in a bibliography.

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Science Investigation Worksheet

Gathering Background Research

- Helps you gain in-depth knowledge about the topic and processes you will be observing during the investigation.

- May spark ideas about different variables to test when setting up the investigation.

- Provides the basis for predicting what will happen in the investigation when making a hypothesis.

- Provides the understanding needed to interpret and explain the results to others.

3. Compose a Hypothesis

After gathering background research, you will be better prepared to formulate a hypothesis. More than a random guess, a hypothesis is a testable statement based on background knowledge, research, or scientific reason. A hypothesis states the anticipated cause and effect that may be observed during the investigation. If you are investigating the different species of spiders in your back yard, you may want to predict which species will be the most common, based on your research. Your prediction might have to take into account where you live, the type of soil you have, and the time of year it is.

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Science Investigation Worksheet

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4. Design an Experiment or Investigation

Once you have a hypothesis for your investigation, you have to design a procedure to test that hypothesis. Your investigation should contain procedures that account for all of the factors that could affect the results of the investigation. These factors are the variables. You may wish to begin by using the phrases “What is changed,” “What stays the same,” and “What is measured.” Once you are comfortable with these ideas and that of controlling the experiment, you can introduce the term variable.

Remember, there are three types of variables to consider as you design your investigation procedure:

- Controlled variables are variables that are kept the same each time - The independent variable is the one variable you choose to change - The dependent variable is the variable that changes as a result of/or in response to the independent variable.

Talking through the investigation will help you clarify the different variables involved in the experimental design. What factors will change? What factors will stay the same? The challenge is for you to create what is called a “fair test.” In a fair test, only one factor or variable is changed at a time so that you can determine if the changed factor has an impact on the end results.

Science Investigation Worksheet

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5. Collect Data

Carrying out the investigation involves data collection. There are two types of data that may be collected--quantitative data and qualitative data.

Quantitative Data

- Uses numbers to describe the amount of something - Involves tools such as rulers, timers, graduated cylinders, and so on - Uses standard metric units (for instance, meters and centimeters for length, grams for mass, and degrees Celcius for volume) - May involve the use of a scale such as in the example below

Qualitative Data

- Uses words to describe the data - Describes physical properties such as how something looks, feels, smells, tastes, or sounds

As data is collected it can be organized into lists and tables. Organizing data will be helpful for identifying relationships later when making an analysis. Use spreadsheets if they will help you organize your data.

Science Investigation Worksheet

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6. Analyze Data & Draw Conclusions

After you have collected your data the next step is to analyze it. The goal of data analysis in most investigations is to determine if there is a relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Basically you are looking for patterns in the data. Ask yourself, “Did the change I made have an effect that can be measured?”

Recording data on a table or chart makes it much easier to observe relationships and trends. You can use these questions to help guide you in analyzing your data:

- What can be learned from looking at your data? - How does the data relate to your original hypothesis? - Did what you changed (independent variable) cause changes in the results (dependent variable)?

After analyzing the data, you will be able to answer these questions as you draw some conclusions. Don’t change your hypothesis if it does not match your findings! The accuracy of your hypothesis is NOT what constitutes a successful investigation. Rather, what is important is that YOUR conclusions match the data that you collected.

Science Investigation Worksheet

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Application of the Results

You may want to include an application as part of your conclusion. For example, if you were investigating the effectiveness of different stain removers, you might conclude that vinegar is just as effective at removing stains as are some commercial stain removers. As a result, you might recommend that people use vinegar to remove most stains, since it may be less expensive, safer, and more eco-friendly.

On the other hand, counting the number of different spiders in your back yard may not have much of a practical application, unless you are a gardener or are looking for a particular species of spider, but it will answer your original question.

In short, conclusions are written to answer the original testable question proposed at the beginning of the investigation. They also explain how you used the scientific process to develop an accurate answer.

Science Investigation Worksheet

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7. Communicate Your Results

Whatever your results are, you may want to publish or communicate them to your fellow scientists. There are many ways to do this, from taking photographs at every step of the process so that you have a complete photo record of your investigation, to making videos of certain stages, to writing your investigation in document and printing it, to creating an investigation Web page and telling the story on your own page as you go.

However you communicate your results, remember that your results are your results-- you cannot change the data. If they do not support your original hypothesis or answer your original question, you might try to explain why, and you can suggest another investigation that might answer the NEW question. One reason to publish your results is so other scientists can repeat your experiment. If your data supports your hypothesis, you want other scientists to do what you did and get the same results. The more times your hypothesis is confirmed or supported, the stronger it becomes. If your data does not support your hypothesis, perhaps another scientist will figure out why, or may propose a different hypothesis to answer your original question. In either case, publishing your results advances science.