SCIENCE INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

1. WHAT IS SIP?

The Science Investigatory Project (SIP) is a scientific process involving the use
of scientific methods within a specific area of investigation or inquiry. Scientific
methods include five steps, namely: identification of the problem; proposition, or
formulation,

of

possible answers to

the

problem;

testing

the

proposed,

or

formulated, answers; gathering and analytic evaluation of all relevant data and drawing
conclusion based on the available data.

Furthermore, a SIP has applications in all physical sciences, such as astronomy,

biology, chemistry, geology or medicine, as well as disciplines of social sciences and
economics, statistics or computational finance. In each discipline, scientists can
potentially make discoveries of great importance to society. SIPs provide practical
experience of scientific methods to students and, if conducted by professionals may lead
to important, life-improving discoveries.

2. HOW IS IT DONE? Steps in making a Science Investigatory Project (SIP)

The first thing to do is to select a topic. The first step in making an investigatory project
is selecting a topic to research on. After selecting the topic, narrow down your research into
something that you are interested in. Then, make a research question and title. Now that you
have your topic, you should now create your Research Question. Your research question is
something that you want to test. Something that intrigues you and you want to find out the
correct answer. Explore other questions that also interest you. Remember that you must make a
scientific inquiry. That means the question or topic can be answered objectively and not through
opinions only. The third thing to do is to design the experiments and procedures. In this step,
you have to design experiments so that you can answer your research question. In designing the
experiments, you have to make a list of the steps to be carried out. You have to make the
procedures by yourself or with your group mates. The fourth step is to write the abstract of the
project. An abstract is a short explanation of what your investigation project is all about. Next
step is to conduct the experiments. Using the procedures you have made in step 3, conduct your
experiments and record all data in your observation. Include also those things that happened and
you think are interesting. The sixth step is to write a research paper. A research paper is the
formal document of your investigatory project. It will be used when you present your
investigatory project to your teacher or a set of panelist. You can even present it to an
international group of scientists. Lastly, create a visual aid. Make a collection of pictures of the
experiment, charts and graphs relevant to the Investigatory Project.

3. WHAT ARE THE PARTS OF A SIP?

The science investigatory project starts from the Title Page. The title page
contains the title of the project which must be brief, simple and catchy. The second part is
the Statement of Problems/Objectives. In this part, the nature and scope of the problem
should be presented with clarity. Two types of objectives may state as the general
objective which is related to the problem as given in the early part of the section and
specific objective which states the purpose of each experiment conducted. The third part
is the Methodology. Methodology provides enough details so that a competent worker
can repeat the experiments. Under this part are the Materials/Equipment and
Treatment/General

Procedure.

Materials/Equipment

states

the

exact

technical

specifications, quantities and source of method of preparation for all materials used
should be given. Specifically, built equipment used in the study must be described and the
description accompanied by a picture. On the other hand, treatment/general procedure
shows the manner & sequence by which each experiment or set of observations were
done & how measurements were obtained should be described in detail. Avoid using the
"recipe style" when stating the step-by-step procedure. Use the narrative form in the past
tense. The fourth part is the Results and Discussion. This may be divided in to subsections describing each set of experiment or observations. The first section is the
Findings. The data may be presented in full & discussed descriptively in the test or these
maybe summarized in tables, pictures & graphs. The statistical test used to determine the
possible significance of the finding should be described. Tables, pictures & graphs should
make the presentation of the data more meaningful. The next section is the Analysis of
Data. In this section, the interpretations of the findings are discussed & the significant
features shown in the tables, figures or graphs are pointed out. The fifth part is the

Conclusions. In this part, the general truth implied or illustrated by the results should be
clearly stated. The evidence based on the results should be summarized for each
statement. The sixth part is giving Recommendations. This consists of suggestions on
future actions such as a new direction of research or further experiments to be performed,
practices that might be adapted or discard in order to attain certain goals or objectives.
Last part is making a Bibliography. This is a list of references used in guiding the
research work and writing and paper.
Summary of the parts of a science investigatory project paper
I.
II.

Title Page
Statement of the Problems/Objectives
a. General Objectives
b. Specific Objectives
III.
Methodology
a. Materials/Equipment
b. Treatment/General Procedure
IV.
Results and Discussions
V.
Conclusions
VI.
Recommendation
VII. Bibliography
4. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO HAVE A SIP?

Science Investigatory Project (SIP) is a long time processed and continuous working
project that undergoes scientific method. According to a report done by a teacher, the process of
making SIP takes months to years. From the sample below, the time table shows almost six (6)
months of making the project. Almost in every month or 2 months, theres a submission of every
part of SIP to be done by students. Students do gathering of data, observations, analysis, and
comparison of data, interpretation and conclusions for every month. SIP takes almost 6 months
minimum and a year as maximum but still it depends on the chosen project.

Illustration source: http://www.slideshare.net/gHiezZeLLe/science-investigatory-project-38127662

REFERENCES
http://education.blurtit.com/1531976/what-are-the-definition-of-a-science-investigatoryproject
http://www.pinoytechnoguide.com/2012/12/how-to-make-investigatory-project.html
http://academicsubjects.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-is-investigatorysubjectdefinition.html
http://www.slideshare.net/gHiezZeLLe/science-investigatory-project-38127662