Experimental Design
A. What is the Scientific Method"The scientific method is one way that people can try to find the answer to problems that are bothering them. It's called "scientific", because people like to think of themselves as being very clever, or "scientific" for solving problems. In reality, there's not really anything special about this method, except that it happens to be pretty handy for solving any problem, not just scientific ones."
Source: http://misterguch.brinkster.net/scientificmethod.html |
B. Reference Links
C. Scientific Method Steps
|
D. Practicing the Scientific Method
I explored 1) graphing, 2) identifying variables, 3) developing hypotheses, 4-5) designing a controlled experiment and 6) predicting results with a partner.
E. Experimental DataPart 1: I was given data to make a graph, below. I used a Google spreadsheet to create a graph and I saved my image file to upload here. My graph demonstrates an inverse relationship between ethylene and maturation rate because it was observed that as ethylene increases, maturation rate decreases. This is be due to the effects of ethylene which is known to be released by plants naturally which causes plants to mature faster.
|
F. VariablesPart 2: Potential environmental variables to consider:
G. HypothesisPart 3: I selected sunlight from a list of environmental variables I developed with a partner.
I believe that sunlight may affect the growth rate of a variety of apple trees because I have observed maturation rate and seen that with sunlight the trees may mature faster. If my hypothesis is correct, I will see that sunlight will help apple trees mature faster as measured by the results I get from the color the apple gets at the end of the experiment. Part 4: It is important to control variables in an experiment because,then is easier to find if your variable affects the experiment.
Control Group: A group of apple trees in a greenhouse (receiving an ideal amount sun). Experimental Group/s:
|
H. Experimental Design
Part 5: Experimental Procedure
|
J. Expected ResultsPart 6: I would expect to see sunlight affect the coloration of the apples because it gives plants the energy needed to grow. If my hypothesis that sunlight will affect the color of the apples true, I will see a more optimum color on the apples in the direct sunlight as measured by the evidence acquired from my experiment.
|