CENTRO ESCOLAR SOLALTO 9th Pre-IB Biology Teacher Javier Aguirre, B.A.

NAME_____________________________________ Date: _________

Science Fair GuidePhase 3 – Data Collection & Analysis

Materials:

• Notebook• Handout: Science Fair Guide – Resources for Students

Instructions: • Paste and complete today’s handout in your notebook

• Read pages 49 to 53 of your Science Fair Guide and answer the following questions.

1. What two types of data can you obtain from a science fair project? Quantitative and qualitative

2. What is the difference between both types of data? Quantitative data is a value that can be measured or counted. Qualitative data can be described but cannot be measured or counted.

3. What must you do with all the results of your experimentation or observations? You must record all results of your tests in your science project journal.

4. What is sample size? How large must it be? It is the number of subjects you test. Your sample size must be large enough to allow you to draw accurate conclusions from your data.

5. What are multiple trials? Why should you conduct multiple trials of your experiment? Multiple trials are the number of times you perform each test. When you are conducting and experiment it is necessary to do multiple trials to compensate for any inconsistency in the experimental design.

6. Why do scientists measure something more than once and use the average of the measurements instead? Because they need to be as exact as possible in taking measurements. It’s almost impossible to measure something exactly, so scientists usually measure something more than once and then use the average of the results. This approach helps to account for the uncertainty of each individual measurement.

7. Why is it a good idea to display your data and results in a chart, table, or graph? Because make it easy for people to understand the relationship between your variables by displaying your data in a chart or graph.

8. When should you use a bar graph? A bar graph should be used if you want to compare different types of data.

9. When should you use a line graph? A line graph should be used if you want to show how the dependent variable is affected by changes in the independent variable or if you want to show how data change over time.

10.When should you use a pie chart? A pie chart should be used when you want to show percentages. You can quickly see which group has the biggest slice of the pie and therefore contains the most data.

11.What should you do after you have gathered all of your data? What type of questions should you ask yourself? You need to analyze the results. To do this you should ask yourself, “What are the data telling me?”, “What trends do I see in the graphs?”, or “Are the data for the control group different than the data for the experimental group?”

12.What is the main question you should ask yourself when drawing a conclusion? Is it important for the hypothesis to always be correct? Why? “Do my results agree with my hypothesis?” It is not important for the hypothesis to be correct. It is important, however, that you explain why you got the results you did.