STEAM FAIR

RESEARCH PLAN
Ms. Cindy Velasquez

Due date: 5th-6th of February

1. Topic accepted.
2. Background paper.
3. Research plan

The next step in your STEAM Project is to design your study and write the research plan.
Your study is the heart of your STEM Project because it is how you actually try to answer a
question or solve a problem using science or engineering. Remember to record all
information and ideas in your logbook as you design your study. Even ideas that you do not
end up using in your current study may be useful when writing the final report or for
performing later research.
The nature of your study will depend on whether you are completing a science-investigation
project or an engineering-design project.

SCIENCE INVESTIGATION

Your study will be a series of experiments. Every experiment involves several variables,
(factors that you can potentially control to test the hypothesis).
3 types of variables in an experiment: dependent variables, independent variables, and
controlled variables.
● Dependent variable:
-A factor that you observe or measure to determine the results of an experiment.
-At least one dependent variable.
-Comes from the question you are trying to answer or the problem you are trying to solve.
For example, if you are trying to answer a question about how different types of insulation
resist heat flow, your dependent variable could be the temperature on one side of a block of
insulation after the other side has been heated.
● Independent variable:
-The one factor in an experiment that is changed to test the hypothesis.
-Only a single independent variable.
-Comes from the hypothesis itself or from a prediction based on the hypothesis; it may also
be mentioned in the problem.
For example, to test the hypothesis that polyurethane foam insulation will resist heat flow
better than cellulose, fiberglass, or expanded polystyrene foam, the independent variable will
be the type of insulation used.
● Controlled variables:
-All variables other than the dependent and independent variables should be controlled
variables, factors that are the same in all groups.
-May change over the course of the experiment but must change in the same way in all
groups.
For example, in an experiment about the resistance of insulation to heat flow, controlled
variables will include factors like the thickness of the insulation, the amount of heat applied,
how heat is applied, and the initial temperature.

An experiment will involve comparing groups that have different values of the independent
variable. There are two types of groups:
1. Experimental groups:
-The groups in an experiment on which a test is performed.
-One or more experimental groups, each of which will have a different value of the
independent variable.
For example, in the experiment with heat flow through insulation, each experimental group
will have a different type of insulation.
2. Control group:
-A group in which the independent variable is absent.
-Used when an independent variable can be completely removed. Since the independent
variable cannot always be removed, not every experiment will have a control group.
-An experiment without a control group must have two or more experimental groups that are
compared to each other.
For example, in the experiment comparing the heat flow through different types of insulation,
no control group is needed because the insulation types are compared to each other. If the
experiment were instead to determine if the materials are useful as insulators for house
walls, a control group with air (representing no insulation added to the wall) would be
needed.

You must choose how many members each group should have. Generally, the average
(mean) of many measurements gives a more accurate result than any single measurement;
therefore, it is usually best to have groups be as large as reasonably possible.
For example, an experiment on plant growth should have as many plants as possible.

In other cases, an experiment will consist of several trials, repetitions of the same procedure
under the same conditions. A group's results from the trials will be averaged and compared
with the averages from the other groups. Of course, practical considerations like time and
expense will always limit the sizes that groups can be and the number of trials that can be
performed.
For example, in the experiment with insulation, it is not practical to test more than one piece
of insulation at a time; therefore, each group will have only one member. Instead of having
larger groups, several trials will be performed.

Your experimental design should also include what data you will collect and record and how
you will analyze that data to determine your conclusion. Determining what results support or
disprove your hypothesis before you begin the experiment will help keep you from
unintentionally interpreting your data in a way that supports the hypothesis.
 ENGINEERING DESIGN

For an engineering-design project, your study will consist of designing and testing a potential
solution to the problem. To test the design, you will build a prototype, a model of the
design (or some part of the design) that is used for testing.
1. You will need to develop a test suite. The test suite is a series of tests that you will
use to test the prototype. Developing the test suite before you design a potential
solution will help ensure that you base the tests on the criteria and constraints
instead of unintentionally choosing tests that support the chosen design. You may
have different tests for different criteria and constraints.
The following are some of the types of tests you may need to perform:
• Weigh the prototype.
• Calculate how much the prototype cost to build.
• Attempt to use the prototype for its intended purpose.
• Determine how the prototype responds if someone uses it incorrectly (e.g., does it break,
work correctly, or work incorrectly?).
• Determine how the prototype functions under a variety of conditions (temperature, humidity,
etc.).
• If the design is used to make measurements, make a wide variety of measurements.
Compare these measurements to the same measurements made with a device known to be
accurate or to accepted values from scientific and technical reference sources.
• If the design is a mathematical or computer model of a complex process, obtain results
and predictions from the model with various starting conditions; compare these results and
predictions to measurements of the actual process with the same starting conditions (either
make your own measurements or use values from reference sources). Be sure to test
extreme (but possible) starting conditions, unless the criteria specifically exclude them.
• If the design's function depends on how it is used (e.g., a machine that performs
different functions depending on the amount of light or a computer program that performs
different calculations depending on user input), test as many possible uses and conditions
as possible. Be sure to test "unexpected" conditions (e.g., the amount of light rapidly
fluctuating or a user entering an invalid value).

Be sure to consider whether tests will pose a potential safety risk; especially consider what
will happen if the prototype fails a test. Although some tests (like calculating prototype cost)
will need to be performed only once, any tests that could be affected by random effects
(including all tests involving physical measurements) should be performed as many times as
possible to account for these random effects. You will make your conclusion based on the
results of the tests (analyzing data and drawing a conclusion)

2. Choose a design idea based on the criteria and constraints. This

design idea will be a general plan for how your design will be built and will work but
will not include details of construction. Before trying to come up with a completely
new solution to your problem, first try to find out how others have solved similar
problems. (You may have some of this information from your reading research. Be
sure to record citations.) Compile a list of design ideas, including both ideas from
your research and ideas that you thought of yourself.
 3. Evaluate each design idea in terms of the criteria and constraints
and compare the ideas to each other. Some design ideas may clearly not
meet the criteria and constraints. If several ideas seem to meet the criteria and
constraints, compare them by considering other factors that may be advantageous or
disadvantageous. If none of the design ideas meet the criteria and constraints, you
will have to make tradeoffs (giving up a characteristic that is less important for a
characteristic that is more important).
When making a tradeoff, you will need to modify or remove criteria or constraints.
Perhaps there is a function that is desirable but is not essential to solving the
problem, or perhaps the object can be a different size or cost than originally planned.
If needed, research further design ideas based on the new criteria and constraints.
After evaluating and comparing the design ideas (and making tradeoffs, if needed),
you will choose one design idea to develop further.

4. Next, make a detailed plan of the chosen design.

For a physical object, this will be a detailed scale drawing or series of scale drawings
indicating measurements and materials of all the components.
For something like a process or computer program, the plan will be a flowchart or
detailed list of the steps to be performed. The detailed plan will guide you as you
construct a prototype.

The rest of the study will involve testing the prototype using the test suite and analyzing the
results. If you find that the design fails to meet the criteria and constraints, plan to evaluate
the design and determine why it failed. In some cases, you will be able to use the design by
making additional tradeoffs. In other cases, you will have to refine the design or even start
over with a different design idea. The prototype will then be adjusted or a new prototype built
to test the changed design. The cycle of testing, refining, and retesting the design continues
until the design satisfies the criteria and constraints.

See the Data Analysis document to continue!