Proper Experimental Design

Hypothesis: Clearly related to experiment of choice . The simplest form of a hypothesis is an If … then...because format. What are you trying to determine with your experiment, and how will you know if your hypothesis is supported. For example,  If tomatoes produce ethylene and we place some in a closed container and some in a open container and some not in a container at all, then the tomatoes placed in a container that traps ethylene will cause the tomatoes to ripen faster because we know that tomatoes are fruits, that many fruits produce ethylene, and that ethylene promotes fruit ripening.

Independent variable: what it is and how it will be manipulated (at least 3 test groups are identified) to produce results

Dependant variable: what it is and how it will be measured (what device will make the measurements and how often it will make them)

Controlled variables: experimental factors that are held constant for this experiment that could be otherwise changed.

Control group for comparison (non test group or normal conditions that can be used to compare other test groups against)

Description of experiment: Detailed description of what will be done in your experiment. Explain how your procedure will answer the question posed by your hypothesis. Can include independent, dependant and controlled variables in description. Explain how you will verify your results such as repeated trials or how you will determine average.  Questions to consider include What kind of information will the procedure give? How will the information be provided? What about reproducibility? Are enough trials being done to have confidence in the results? In the example above, a student could ask, How many tomatoes do I need to use? What kinds of containers? Is the size of the containers important? How will I know if the tomatoes ripen faster?

Data Table: Should have independent variable in first column, dependent variable in the rest of the columns depending on how many trials you will do. A second table could be included that only includes mean and standard deviation values for the dependent variable. Be sure to include units and a title for the table.