Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

Level 4

Evaluating Data and Design


 

Practice Slides (Google Slides) (PDF)

Student Worksheet (Google Doc) (PDF)


Plan and conduct an investigation to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, and in the design: decide on types, how much, and accuracy of data needed to produce reliable measurements and consider limitations on the precision of the data (e.g., number of trials, cost, risk, time), and refine the design accordingly.

TERMS

  • Conduct - investigate phenomena using scientific methods.

  • Data - measurements or statistics used for evidence

  • Directional Hypothesis - uses an explanation to predict specific outcome of experiment

  • Ethical - relating to moral principles

  • Evaluate - to determine the significance of by careful study

  • Investigation - a searching inquiry for obtaining facts

  • Phenomenon - observable events in the natural world (require explanations)

  • Plan - to create activities for something

  • Prediction - to say that an event will happen in the future

  • Purpose - the reason for which something is done or created

  • Refine - to improve by making small changes

  • Reliability - consistently good in quality

  • Safety - ensure responsible experimental practices avoiding harm

  • Variable - a factor that can be changed, controlled or measured

    • Controlled - factors that are kept constant during an experiment

    • Independent - the manipulated variable in an experiment (cause)

    • Dependent - the responding variable in an experiment (effect)

STANDARDS

HS-PS1-3 / HS-PS2-5 / HS-PS3-4 / HS-LS1-3 / HS-ESS2-5

Observable Features of Student Performance