Doing an Experiment    Most experiments are conducted in a special way, called the Scientific Method. This is done to ensure that whatever results are obtained are reliable. An experiment is just a way to answer a question. For example, you might ask yourself the following: 'If I eat broccoli with every meal, will I have lost weight after a month?'    You might then decide to find out, by eating broccoli every day for a month, and weighing yourself at the end of that time. Let's look at this sample experiment in more detail, to see how you would go about doing the experiment properly. Purpose: This is the reason for the experiment. In this case, it is to find out if broccoli causes a weight loss. Hypothesis: This is the question you asked. In this case, it is: 'Does eating broccoli at every meal cause you to lose weight?' Research: Research the topic if necessary, and state clearly where you found the information. In this case, we might look up the chemicals that are in broccoli. Procedure: This is the design of the experiment, including how variables are controlled. Let's show it for our example. You will choose three people to do the experiment. Each person will record their weight on Day 1. For the next 30 days, each person will eat one piece of raw broccoli with each lunch and supper. Then each person will once again record their weight. The following variables will be controlled: weight of broccoli: every serving will be exactly 100 grams. exercise: each person will refrain from any unusual exercise for one month. food intake: each person will eat normally for one month. (We aren't controlling all the variables here, and the last two are hard to control anyway. We might overcome this by using 20 people instead of 3, and by repeating the whole thing several times. For our purposes, what we've chosen to do will be satisfactory as an example). Results: Results are what you observed and recorded, along with data analysis and display. In our example, we would display the initial and final weight for each person, along with any change in weight. We could graph these results, and find a mean and median weight change. Conclusion: Make sure you answer all of these questions when you do your own project: - Did what happened agree with your hypothesis? - What actually happened? - Can you supply a possible reason for this? - Do you have more questions as a result of this conclusion? - What further experiment might you do to find out the answers to those questions? The procedure as illustrated above should be written up in detail for your own experiment, first in a report, and then again in your display. Photos, charts, graphs, and other graphics should be prepared on a computer so they can be expanded for use on your display without having to be redone. Science Fairs