If we knew what we were doing, it would not be called research.
Albert Einstein

Practical Investigation

VCE Physics - Unit 4, Area of Study 3, Outcome 3
The exam also has questions on experimental design, techniques and analysis
Rock Skip Robot- The Science of Perfect Rock Skipping
You need to watch this video.
It uses an experiment to explain experimental design, experimental technique, data collection and analysis processes.
Overview
Information Sheet - What it is, VCAA stuff
Information Video (right)
An experiment is a question which science poses to Nature, and a measurement is the recording of Nature’s answer.
Max Planck
Planning
Planning information sheet - things to keep in mind when planning your experiment
Instructional Video (right)
List of Topic Ideas -

Experimentation is the least arrogant method of gaining knowledge.
The experimenter humbly asks a question of nature.
Isaac Asimov
Performing the Experiment
Record Keeping - The Log Book
Instructional Video (right)




Data - Taking and Recording.
Instructional Video (right)
I never allow myself to become discouraged under any circumstances. After we had conducted thousands of experiments on a certain project without solving the problem, we had learned something. For we had learned for a certainty that the thing couldn’t be done that way, and that we would have to try some other way. We sometimes learn a lot from our failures if we have put into the effort the best thought and work we are capable of.
Thomas Edison
Analysis
Graphing data using EXCEL
Instruction sheet
Instructional Video (right)
There is stuff on error bars in this video, but the one below is better.


Placing Error Bars on EXCEL Graphs
Instruction Sheet
Instructional Video (right)



Analysing your results
What you can deduce from your Graph?
Instructional Video (right)
There are those who reason well, but they are greatly outnumbered by those who reason badly.
Galileo Galilei
Discussion
Interpreting Graphs, Errors, Uncertainty, Limitations
Theory and suggestions
Instructional Video (right)



How to choose the best 'Trend line' (line of best fit) using EXCEL
Instructional Video (right)
Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
Albert Einstein
Conclusion
What is a conclusion?
Instructional Video (right)
I built the solenoid and with great expectations late one evening I pressed the switch which sent a current of 40 amperes through   the coil. The result was spectacular—a deafening explosion, the apparatus disappeared, all windows were blown in or out, a wall caved in, and thus ended my pioneering experiment on liquid hydrogen cooled coils!
[Recalling the result of his experiment, on 31 Mar 1930, to maximize the magnetic field by cooling the coils of an electromagnet   in liquid hydrogen to reduce their resistance.] Nicholas Kurti
Poster
Below are some examples of Scientific Posters and some templates.
These are not the only way the poster can be structured.
They are there to give you some ideas.
It never occurred to me that there was going to be any stumbling block. Not that I had the answer, but [I had] the joy of going at  it. When you have that joy, you do the right experiments. You let the material tell you where to go, and it tells you at every step what the next has to be because you're integrating with an overall brand new pattern in mind.
When asked how she could have worked for two years without knowing the outcome. Barbara McClintock
Internet Resources
Designing an Experimental Investigation - cyberphysics.co.uk
Proudly powered by Weebly