TSI FUE 09: Research Question Development

UEI 2009

Main Idea

• Develop and conduct a research project – Involves water/soil quality, macros, birds,

and/or trees– Data collection over the week

• Present your work– Wiki pages are due Thursday– Presentation of group work to strand and to

other UEI teachers

You will be able to…

• Chose your question

• Chose your group

• Conduct your own research

• Analyze the data

• Use the data to answer the question

What makes a good question?• It is not:

– Too vague– Too broad– A “look it up” question– A “yes or no” question– Not possible to answer (due to money, time or

materials available)

• It is:– Possible to do given the materials, variables

controlled and time to complete

Practice ExamplesExample Type of Question

Are older people smarter?

A question that is too vague/that has too many variables

When was our school built?

A ‘look-it-up’ question

On average, how many more minutes do students spend daydreaming in English class than in Math class?

A question that is not testable due to lack of equipment, time, or money

What is the difference in the variety of shoes worn at our school in January as compared to May?

A researchable question

Your Turn!

• Assess the questions to practice looking at what makes a good question.

• Work with a partner (optional)

1. Do house sparrows eat more on average than goldfinches?

2. Why are males birds often more colorful than females?

3. What effect does snow have on birds?

4. Does water with more dissolved oxygen contain more insects?

5. Does rain improve the water quality at our site?

6. How much storm water on our site goes to the sewer, and how much goes to the ocean?

7. How does the abundance of birds change at our feeders when there is snow cover?

8. How are lakes and ponds different?

Research Question Terminology

• Variable - A piece of the experiment that is changing. There are two types of variables:– Independent Variable - The part of the experiment

that is changed by the scientist– Dependent Variable - The changes that the scientist observes when actively changing the independent variable.

• Constants - The parts of the experiment that remain the same.

• Control - A standard of comparison for checking the results of an experiment. In the control trial you do not apply the independent variable.

Research Question Terminology

• Hypothesis - A guess based on observation, concerning the outcome of the experiment. The hypothesis should mention the independent variables and dependent variables by name.

• Bias - When the experiment lacks the proper amount of controls which can cause some outcomes to be favored over others.

A Researchable Question

• A research question is designed to test cause and effect relationships in nature – to discover if changes to one item cause something else to vary in a predictable way.

• Example of a researchable question: How are dissolved oxygen levels affected

by changes in water temperature?

How are dissolved oxygen levels affected by changes in water temperature?

Variable The changes in both water temperature and dissolved oxygen.

Independent

Variable

Water temperature. The Scientist will test for dissolved oxygen levels at low, medium and high temperatures.

Dependent Variable

Dissolved oxygen levels. The scientist will observe the changes in dissolved oxygen at low, medium and high water temperatures.

Hypothesis Dissolved oxygen levels will increase as water temperature decreases.

Constant The amount of water sampled, the location of the sample, the number of trials for low, medium, and high water temperatures.

Bias If the experiment were to lack any of the above controls, the scientist might get misleading results.

Control A parallel experiment where you keep everything the same except test tap water with a constant temperature instead of sample water.

7) Draw conclusions.Support or reject hypothesis.Identify sources of error.

6) Record and Analyze Data

5) Experiment Design and Implementation

Flowchart: The Scientific Method1) Perceive a Real World Problem

Reformulate experiment/hypothesis as necessary.

X √

4) Formulate a hypothesis

2) Generate a Question

3) Background Observation and Research

Your Turn Again!

• Write down some topics and ideas for researchable questions on the easel paper– Find people who want to use the same tests

as you– Begin working on developing a researchable

question

• Decide as a group what you want to use as a research question