HOW TO SCIENCE Lab Report Cheat Sheet Question

HOW TO SCIENCE!

Lab Report Cheat Sheet! • Question: Why do the experiment?

Lab Report Cheat Sheet! • Hypothesis: educated prediction about the outcome; “If ___, then ___. ” • Example: IF I put fresh batteries in the remote THEN it will work BECAUSE batteries must be replaced regularly. • Pro. Tip: Reduce the hyp to “cave man speak. ” Then the Independent Variable is in the “IF” part. The Dependent Variable is in the “THEN” part.

Lab Report Cheat Sheet! • Procedure: how to do the experiment (in five sentences or less). You want it detailed enough to where anyone could repeat your experiment, but it doesn’t have to be overly detailed. • Note: repeating an experiment validates the results

Lab Report Cheat Sheet! • Independent Variable: the part of the experiment intentionally changed by the experiment from the start (If…) • Dependent Variable; the result of the intentional change looked for at the end (then…)

Lab Report Cheat Sheet! • Experimental Group: the group receiving the IV (or tested group) • Control Group: the group NOT receiving the IV; used for comparison • Ex: if testing fertilizer, you would have a group of plants WITH fertilizer (the experimental group) and a group WITHOUT fertilizer (the control group) • What would happen if you left out the control?

Lab Report Cheat Sheet! • Constants: factors that are identical between the experimental and control groups • Ex: in the previous fertilizer example, both groups of plants would need the same amount of sun and water. The only thing that can be different between them is fertilizer or no fertilizer.

Lab Report Cheat Sheet! • Results: What happened in your experiment? • Quantitative (Numbers) Data: measurements, counts, etc. • Qualitative (Qualities) Data: color, texture, etc.

Lab Report Cheat Sheet! • Conclusion: Evaluate the hypothesis using the results. Was the hypothesis true? Suggest what to do next. Collaborate with others and share your findings.