Science Fair

1
Science Fair

• I have my data.now how do I analyze it?

2
Before you begin your analysis

• Review your data. Try to look at the results of
  your experiment with a critical eye. Ask yourself
  these questions
• Is it complete, or did you forget something?
• Do you need to collect more data?
• Did you make any mistakes?

3
Check your graphs

• Make sure to clearly label all tables and graphs.
  And, include the units of measurement (volts,
  inches, grams, etc.).
• Place your independent variable on the x-axis of
  your graph and the dependent variable on the
  y-axis.

4
When you are ready.

• Take some time to carefully review all of the
  data you have collected from your experiment. Use
  charts and graphs to help you analyze the data
  and patterns.
• Did you get the results you had expected?
• What did you find out from your experiment?
• Really think about what you have discovered and
  use your data to help you explain why you think
  certain things happened.

5
Questions to ask yourself

• Is there sufficient data to know whether your
  hypothesis is supported by the data? If it
  supports, you can claim the experiment was
  successful or you may have to do more trials to
  get a conclusive result.
• Is your data accurate?
• Have you summarized your data with an average, if
  appropriate?
• Does your chart specify units of measurement for
  all data?
• Have you verified that all calculations (if any)
  are correct?

6
Words to use.

• Increase
• Decrease
• Proportional
• Directly relates to
• Pattern

7
Using the tables/graphs effectively.

• Do not repeat all of the information in the text
  that appears in a table, but do summarize it.
• For example, if you present a table of
  temperature measurements taken at various times,
  describe the general pattern of temperature
  change and refer to the table.

8
Example

• The temperature of the solution increased rapidly
  at first, going from 50º to 80º in the first
  three minutes (Table 1).
• The temperature of the solution directly relates
  to the environmental temperature.

9
DONT..

• You don't want to list every single measurement
  in the text ("After one minute, the temperature
  had risen to 55º. After two minutes, it had risen
  to 58º," etc.).
• There is no hard and fast rule about when to
  report all measurements in the text and when to
  put the measurements in a table and refer to
  them, but use your common sense.
• Remember that readers have all that data in the
  accompanying tables and figures, so your task in
  this section is to highlight key data, changes,
  or relationships.