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Merrylands High School Junior Assessment Notification

Student Research project (SRP)


Subject: Science Stage: 4 Year: 8

Coordinating teacher: A. Leung You will be awarded a mark from: 0 - 26 Topic: Scientific Investigations Course component: Planning and conducting investigations; Communicating Date assigned: August 14, 2013 Timeline for this project This project contains 3 parts. Your teacher will check each part and give you feedback. Write down the due dates for each part of this project. Date due: September 18, 2013

Part 1 -My SRP Plan Due date: ________________________________________________________________________ Part 2 Draft experiment report - Due date: __________________________________________________________ Part 3 - Final experiment report - Due date: September 18, 2013

Task outline: The purpose of this task is to determine your skills in planning and carrying out an investigation, solving problems and communicating ideas. This task is designed to see how well you can: Design an experiment Make your experiment fair Select appropriate equipment Conduct an experiment, record observations and present observations appropriately Write an experiment report

Your final experiment report can be in a medium of your choice (Eg. Typed report, video, website). Your teacher will inform you on how to submit your report. Write it down in the space below. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Whichever way you are presenting your experiment report, the report must include photos of you doing the experiment and the results of the experiment.

Outcomes assessed: A student: 4.13 clarifies the purpose of an investigation and, with guidance, produces a plan to investigate a problem 4.14 follows a sequence of instructions to undertake a first-hand investigation 4.17 evaluates the relevance of data and information 4.18 with guidance, presents information to an audience to achieve a particular purpose

Coordinating teacher: A Leung

Head teacher: A Leung

Student Research Project Topics for investigation You are to choose one of the following topics to investigate: 1. Which brand of paper towel is the most absorbent? 2. Which brand of sticky tape is the stickiest? 3. Does lemon slow down apple pieces from turning brown? 4. What is the effect of yeast on bread dough? 5. What is the effect of salt on the germination and growth of seeds? 6. Which antibacterial hand wash is the best at killing bacteria? 7. Which paper plane design will fly the furthest? 8. What is the best way to keep cold drinks cold without using the fridge? 9. What materials are best for keeping warm? 10. Which type of fruit has the highest amount of vitamin C? 11. What ratio of vinegar and bicarb soda will inflate a balloon the most? 12. What is the effect of acidified water on seashells made of calcium carbonate? 13. What is the effect of gravity on the growth of seeds? 14. Will vitamins affect the growth of a plant? 15. What is the effect of salinity on tomato plants? 16. Does crowding of seeds influence their growth? 17. Is rainwater absorbed at the same rate in different kinds of soil? 18. Which brand of bubble gum allows the largest bubbles to be made? 19. Which brand of detergent makes bubbles that will last the longest? 20. Can people tell the difference between name brands and non-name brands?

If you have another topic that you would like to investigate, please speak to your teacher.

Marking criteria
Component Background information Criteria Thorough background information on the experiment is presented Brief background information on the experiment is presented Not demonstrated Aim is clearly stated Aim is not clearly stated or not demonstrated Hypothesis is a testable statement that is a prediction of the outcome of the experiment Not demonstrated All or most of the equipment used are listed Not demonstrated Clearly written as a procedural text; in present tense; each step starting with a verb Two of the above demonstrated One of the above demonstrated Not demonstrated Safety precautions Safety issues and precautions are described Only safety issues or precautions listed Not demonstrated Variables The independent, dependent and at least 3 controlled variables are correctly listed Two of the above are demonstrated One of the above are demonstrated Not demonstrated Mark Teacher comment 2 1 0 1 0 1

Aim

Hypothesis

0 1 0 3

Equipment

Method

2 1 0 2 1 0 3

Planning and conducting investigations

2 1 0

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

Communication skills

Acknowledgements Bibliography

Results are clearly presented in appropriate tables, graphs and/or photos, including correct use of headings and units Two of the above are demonstrated One of the above is demonstrated Not demonstrated Thorough interpretation of results; comments on validity and reliability; discusses possible sources of error and problems encountered in the experiment; suggests modifications and improvements; explains why these modifications and improvements are necessary; suggests future experiments based on the results Five of the above are demonstrated Four of the above are demonstrated Three of the above are demonstrated Two of the above are demonstrated One of the above are demonstrated Not demonstrated Appropriate conclusion related to the aim and hypothesis Appropriate conclusion related to the aim or hypothesis Not demonstrated Acknowledgements present Not demonstrated 3 or more references are included and are listed in APA style Not demonstrated Log book includes a description or list of the progress of the experiment Not demonstrated

2 1 0 6

5 4 3 2 1 0 2 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0

Planning and conducting investigations = Communication = Total =

General comments:

Part 1 - My SRP plan


For Part 1 you need to think about these things: 1. Choose a topic for your project. 2. Think about some of the benefits (good things that will happen) of researching this topic. 3. Do some research and make a note of where you got your information from, this needs to be included in your bibliography later. 4. Your Hypothesis (what you think will happen) after doing some research you should be able to make a guess at what you will find out. 5. Think about the equipment you will need to complete your investigation.

For you to do - Fill in your answers to the questions below by writing in the boxes
What is my investigation topic? Look at the list of experiments in the Task Outline. Choose an experiment you want to do. The experiment I want to do is

What is the background information for my investigation topic? For example, if your experiment is to see whether lemons can stop apples from turning brown, your background information will be about why apples turn brown when they are cut into pieces and exposed to air. Make sure you write down the title, author, publication date and any other relevant information about each source. Name of book, website, etc Main points about my investigation topic Reference for my bibliography After writing down the main points, use http://www.citefast.com/ to find out how to write this source in your reference list

Name of book, website, etc

Main points about my investigation topic

Reference for my bibliography After writing down the main points, use http://www.citefast.com/ to find out how to write this source in your reference list

What is the aim for my experiment?

What is the hypothesis for my experiment? This is a prediction of what you think will happen in the experiment.

What equipment do I need for my experiment? Can I get the equipment myself or do I have to ask my teacher? Equipment I need for my experiment Which of these equipment can I bring to school myself? Which of these equipment do I need to ask my teacher to help me get?

Now show your teacher your SRP plan. Your teacher will give you feedback on what you need to improve on. Your teacher will let you know when you can start doing your experiment.

Teacher comments for SRP plan

Part 2 and 3 - Experiment report


Now that youve done your experiment and collected your results, you need to present your experiment in an experiment report. You need to: 1. 2. 3. 4. Look at your SRP plan and your results. Think about what your results mean. Think about what types of graphs will be best to present your results. Think about what kinds of errors or mistakes you might have made in your experiment. How could these errors affect the results in your experiment? 5. Think about what other experiments you can now do. After thinking about the things listed above, use the scaffold below to: Write a draft report. Hand it into your teacher for feedback. Use the feedback to write a final report.

For you to do Use the headings below to write your draft experiment report. You can write the draft experiment report on paper or electronically. Ask your teacher.
Title Give your report a title that is short and concise, and tells the reader what the experiment will be about Background information Combine your research from at least 3 different sources to give a summary on what you already know about your experiment Aim What is the purpose of your experiment? (To .....) Hypothesis What are you predicting will be the result of your experiment? (Look at your planning sheet) Equipment List all the equipment you used in your experiment Method Write how you did the experiment in steps. Each step needs to start with a verb. Draw a scientific diagram to show how you set up the equipment. Safety Precautions Describe what safety issues there are in the experiment and the precautions you will take. Independent variable What did you change on purpose in this experiment? Dependent variable What did you measure for the result in this experiment? Controlled variables What did you keep the same to make the experiment fair? Results Draw a table and graph to present your results

Discussion Answer these questions in your discussion: What do you results indicate? Describe the trends (patterns) and relationships your results show. How do your results relate to what you expected from your background research? Do they agree or contradict the background research? What are the logical explanations for your results? Refer to your background research. Is your experiment valid and reliable? Why or why not? Are there any results that are usual? If so, explain any errors that might have happened in your experiment and how you can prevent these errors next time. How can you improve your experiment if you did it again? Describe at least 3 ways of improving your experiment and explain why each way will improve your experiment? What are some further experiments you can do?

Conclusion Write a conclusion that answers the aim. Say whether your hypothesis was correct or incorrect. References/Bibliography List all sources you have used (books, internet, etc) in APA style. You have done this already in your SRP plan. Just copy them from your SRP plan and paste/write them under this heading as the reference list. If you used extra sources use http://www.citefast.com/ to help you write the reference list.
After your teacher has marked and given you feedback on your draft experiment report. You can start on your final experiment report.

Glossary
Term Aim Concise Consistent Consistently Controlled variable Dependent variable Independent variable Precaution Reliable Valid Variables Meaning What you want to achieve or show in the experiment. The aim always starts with To Short and clearly written Something that remains the same or very similar Something that happens over and over again Something kept the same to keep the experiment fair Something that you measure as the result in an experiment Something you change on purpose in an experiment Action taken to limit damage to something Similar results are repeated throughout the experiment Is the experiment testing what it is supposed to test? If yes, the experiment is valid. Anything in an experiment that can change

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