How to Create and Design Experiments
You can take any topic you are interested in and make it into a strong science experiment through following the steps of the scientific method. But designing your own experiment can be confusing. After all, many science experiment books focus on building models -- of volcanoes, for example -- without even mentioning any of the steps of the scientific method. Whether you'd like to design a science experiment for your own enjoyment or for a school science fair, follow the scientific method for the strongest science experiment possible.
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Things You'll Need
- Paper
- Pen
- Internet or library access
- Materials for experiment and display (will vary)
- Tri-fold board (optional)
Instructions
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Write down a list of topics you are interested in. For example, you might include "music," "magnets," and "baseball" on your list.
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Brainstorm a list of questions you have about each topic. For example, you might write the following questions under "baseball": "Is sliding into a base really faster than running there?" "Can you hit a baseball farther in warm or cold weather?" and "How does the speed of a pitch affect the distance of the resulting hit?"
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Look up additional information about your topic on websites or in library books. Write down any information that you think may be helpful in answering one of the questions on your list.
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Choose a question from your list that is testable, and that can be measured, preferably with a number. For example, you could measure how cold it is outside in degrees, and you could measure how far a baseball goes in meters or feet. It is much more difficult to determine how much people enjoy something, or even what color something is.
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Construct a hypothesis, or educated guess, based on the research that you did. The hypothesis should attempt to answer the question and give a reason for why you hypothesized that way. For example, you might write, "A baseball will go farther when it is warm outside than when it is cold because the material on the outside of the ball expands in warm weather, which makes it more elastic."
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Test your hypothesis with an experiment. To do this, think of what you could do to determine whether your hypothesis is correct. For example, you might hit a baseball with the same force on a warm day and on a cold day. Take data as needed. Repeat this process several times (on several hot and cold days) in order to make sure that your data is as accurate as possible.
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Analyze your data and determine whether your hypothesis was proven true or false.
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Communicate your results with others, either verbally, in writing, or through designing a tri-fold board for a science fair project display.
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Tips & Warnings
Make sure to keep all variables, except for the one you are testing, constant. For example, if you are hitting a baseball in warm weather and in cold weather, make sure that you're not wearing a coat only one time, using a different bat during one of the days you spend hitting, or having a different people hit the ball.
If you have proven your hypothesis incorrect, do not retroactively change it. In science research, proving a hypothesis wrong can often be just as important as proving it right. If you would like, you can design a new experiment based on your new understanding instead.
References
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