WHAT CAN I DO FOR AN EXPERIMENT?

EXPERIMENTS ARE DESIGNED TO TEST HYPOTHESIS. BEFORE YOU CAN DESIGN AN EXPERIMENT YOU HAVE TO DEVELOP A HYPOTHESIS. FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU WERE DOING A PROJECT ABOUT CULTIVATOR SHOVELS, YOUR HYPOTHESIS MIGHT BE THAT CULTIVATOR SHOVELS MADE IN THE SHAPE OF THE LETTER W ARE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN THOSE SHOVELS MADE IN THE SHAPE OF A LETTER V. MANY TIMES, PEOPLE STATE THE HYPOTHESIS IN THE FORM OF A QUESTION. FOR EXAMPLE: ARE CULTIVATOR SHOVELS MADE IN THE SHAPE OF THE LETTER W MORE EFFECTIVE IN WEED KILL THAN THOSE MADE IN THE SHAPE OF THE LETTER V?

NOW, IN ORDER TO TEST THIS HYPOTHESIS, YOU WOULD HAVE TO DESIGN AN EXPERIMENT. YOU WOULD MAKE A PREDICTION ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK THE OUTCOME OF THE EXPERIMENT WOULD BE. A PREDICTION TO YOUR EXPERIMENT COULD BE: LAND WORKED WITH W SHAPED CULTIVATOR SHOVELS RESULTS IN MORE WEED KILL AND RESULTS IN LESS WEED REGROWTH THAN LAND WORKED WITH V SHAPED CULTIVATOR SHOVELS. THIS EXPERIMENT COULD HAVE A SET OF W SHAPED SHOVELS ON A CULTIVATOR AND A SET OF V SHAPED SHOVELS ON AN IDENTICAL CULTIVATOR. THE TRACTOR COULD HITCH UP TO THE FIRST CULTIVATOR AND WORK ONE STRIP OF LAND COVERED IN WEEDS OR SMALL PLANTS OF SOME SORT. THEN THE TRACTOR COULD HITCH UP TO THE SECOND CULTIVATOR AND WORK A COMPARABLE STRIP OF LAND COVERED IN SIMILAR WEEDS OR SMALL PLANTS. THEN YOU WOULD EXAMINE THESE STRIPS OF WORKED LAND FOR WEED OR PLANT KILL AND REGROWTH. THE CONTROLS ARE: SAME TRACTOR, IDENTICAL CULTIVATORS, SAME PIECE OF LAND, SIMILAR SOIL, SIMILAR WEED OR PLANT COVER. THE VARIABLE IS: THE CULTIVATOR SHOVEL SHAPE.

AFTER RECORDING DATA ON WEED KILL OVER A SERIES OF DAYS, YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO ANALYZE YOUR DATA. IF THE W SHAPED SHOVELS RESULT IN LESS WEED GROWTH THEN YOUR EXPERIMENT RESULT SUPPORTS YOUR HYPOTHESIS. IF THE V SHAPED SHOVELS RESULT IN LESS WEED GROWTH THEN YOUR EXPERIMENT DOES NOT GIVE RESULTS THAT SUPPORT YOUR HYPOTHESIS.

AFTER YOU ANALYSE YOUR EXPERIMENT RESULTS YOU MAY DECIDE TO DO FURTHER TESTING. FOR EXAMPLE: YOU MAY WONDER ABOUT THE EFFECT OF CULTIVATOR SHOVEL SHAPE ON FUEL CONSUMPTION OR YOU MAY WONDER ABOUT THE EFFECT OF HEATING THE TIPS OF CULTIVATOR SHOVELS BEFORE USE. EXPERIMENTS COULD BE DESIGNED TO EXPLORE THESE ISSUES AS WELL.

DURING YOUR EXPERIMENT PROCESS YOU NEED TO KEEP CAREFUL RECORD OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND THE RESULTS YOU OBTAIN. THIS RECORD CAN CONVENIENTLY BE KEPT IN YOUR PROJECT LOG BOOK.

ACTIVITY

STEP 1:

DEVELOP A HYPOTHESIS.

STEP 2:

DEVELOP AN EXPERIMENT THAT COULD BE USED TO TEST YOUR HYPOTHESIS. MAKE SPECIAL NOTE OF HOW YOU HAVE ENSURED THAT YOUR EXPERIMENT WOULD MEET SAFETY STANDARDS. IDENTIFY ANY RISKS THAT YOU PERCEIVE AND HOW YOU WILL MINIMIZE THE EFFECTS OF THESE RISKS.

STEP 3:

DISCUSS THIS HYPOTHESIS AND EXPERIMENT WITH THE TEACHER AT YOUR SCHOOL AND WITH YOUR PARENT(S). ASK THEM IF THEY FEEL THAT YOUR EXPERIMENT IS SAFE TO PERFORM. NOTE THEIR RESPONSE. MAKE ADJUSTMENTS UNTIL THEY AGREE THAT YOUR EXPERIMENT IS SAFE TO PERFORM.

ASSIGNMENT

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR HYPOTHESIS AND EXPERIMENT BY SENDING ME AN EMAIL. ALSO TELL ME ABOUT THE CONVERSATIONS YOU HAVE HAD WITH YOUR TEACHER AND YOUR PARENTS. INDICATE WHAT MEASURES ARE IN PLACE TO ENSURE THAT YOUR EXPERIMENT IS SAFE TO PERFORM.

ASSESSMENT

YOUR TEACHER WILL READ YOUR ASSIGNMENT EMAIL AND BASED UPON YOUR DEGREE OF PLANNING YOU MANY OR MAY NOT BE ASKED TO PROVIDE MORE CLARIFICATION ABOUT YOUR EXPERIMENT. AFTER YOU HAVE GIVEN INDICATION THAT YOU HAVE DONE THOROUGH AND COMPLETE PLANNING YOU WILL BE INFORMED OF YOUR NEXT STEP.