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But how is that about the results?

XJcwolfyX wrote:But how is that about the results?

I'm not in Experimental Design, but I'm in 6th grade science, so... somewhat similar in terms of the experiments.

Maybe "the ball rolled faster on the steeper ramp" or "the parachute dramatically slowed the descent down."

XJcwolfyX wrote:But how is that about the results?

Okay. so as you know this is what the rubric says about qualitative observations:

g. Qualitative Observations (8 points)
_____ Observations about results given
_____ Observations about procedure/deviations
_____ Observations about results not directly relating to
Dependent Variable
_____ Observations given throughout the course of the
experiment

Clearly DV observations fall under the first criterion and experimental errors under the second. Here's the thing: your results directly involving your experimental apparatus will all involve the DV, so you need to find indirect results resulting from the IV. For example, if you are doing a coordination experiment in which a subject is spinning and then has to do a task like throwing a ball, a direct result would be that the subject struggled with throwing the ball, and an indirect result would be that he or she reported a feeling of dizziness. (Use that with caution.) If you are doing a parachute experiment testing parachute size on drop time, then any differences in the type of paper could qualify depending on how you operationally define your IV (especially if you must use different parachutes for each level. Note that this would not fall under the second criterion because you would have specified in the procedure the necessity for n different parachutes, and that would not be a deviation.)

Alternatively, you could evaluate other variables that could be DVs in other experiments. In the parachute experiment, another DV that could be used is (this is a stretch) tension in the string. You could report that the string appears to be variably strained by the weight attached depending on the parachute used.

Anyone have any super-creative Exp Designs in recent tournaments that they would like to share? As a coach, I am running out of new ideas...

Thanks!

JonB wrote:Anyone have any super-creative Exp Designs in recent tournaments that they would like to share? As a coach, I am running out of new ideas...

Thanks!

I'm not on this event, but from what our students have told me, at our state tournament the topic was turbulence and students were given balloons, string, paper, paperclips. That's all I remember from the materials.

I thought the MIT Experimental Design prompt was creative. Our students designed an experiment on parallax for it.

bernard wrote:

JonB wrote:Anyone have any super-creative Exp Designs in recent tournaments that they would like to share? As a coach, I am running out of new ideas...

Thanks!

I'm not on this event, but from what our students have told me, at our state tournament the topic was turbulence and students were given balloons, string, paper, paperclips. That's all I remember from the materials.

I thought the MIT Experimental Design prompt was creative. Our students designed an experiment on parallax for it.

I was on this event at state, we also got coffee stirrers and I think popsicle sticks. I'm not entirely sure how the event supervisors scored it, but I suspect that many teams were tiered because their experiment was not related to turbulence. Our team didn't know how to define turbulence, so we just did our best and tested something to do with air resistance. Practicing with this set of materials is a good exercise in making sure that the experiment relates to the topic, because if it doesn't, then you basically have no chance of placing well.

JonB wrote:Anyone have any super-creative Exp Designs in recent tournaments that they would like to share? As a coach, I am running out of new ideas...

Thanks!

My 2 favorite experiments that I have done haven't necessarily been hard, but they have been creative and fun. One involved gummy bears and making a device to project them, and the other involved testing the rebound hight with different bungie cords and barbie dolls. For the gummy bear one we were given: gummy bears, popsicle sticks, rubber bands, a small cup, and measuring devices. For the bungie cord one we were given: a variety of bungie cords (different types, not lengths), a barbie doll, tape, and measuring devices. If these sound like what you were looking for feel free to PM me for more specific details.

My regional test this year was harder, and defiantly made us think. I'm not sure if you could call it creative though.

Panda Weasley wrote:It was this years Regionals test and they asked us to do "something related to sample accuracy", but it was phrased in a more confusing way. We were given a Styrofoam plate, 208 red beads, and 75 white beads. What we did was we made an experiment that was to the best of our knowledge related to sample accuracy and tested that.

JonB wrote:Anyone have any super-creative Exp Designs in recent tournaments that they would like to share? As a coach, I am running out of new ideas...

Thanks!

PM me if you want the specific details, but I got an experiment testing for impulse by dropping eggs.

bernard wrote:I thought the MIT Experimental Design prompt was creative. Our students designed an experiment on parallax for it.

Seems like a much more legit experiment than what we had LOL

jkang wrote:

bernard wrote:I thought the MIT Experimental Design prompt was creative. Our students designed an experiment on parallax for it.

Seems like a much more legit experiment than what we had LOL

Would you mind sharing what you did?