- What is the general topic of the investigation?
- Why did you choose this topic?
- Specifically, what will you be testing (or comparing)?
- How will you measure the results?
- What do you think will happen?
- the size bat
- the softball
- time of day
- the pitcher
- the batter/swing technique
- the playing field
- weather conditions
- Gather the following materials:
- 1 regulation softball
- 1 wooden softball bat
- 1 aluminum softball bat of equal size and weight (I used a 30 inch bat)
- 1 playing field
- 1 pitcher, 1 batter, and 1 spotter to see where the ball first hits the ground
- 1 tape measure, 100 feet long
- Using the wooden bat, stay up at bat until you have hit five pitches into fair territory. Have the spotter measure the distance of each hit, using the place where the ball first hits the ground as the spot to measure to.
- Take a five minute rest.
- Repeat step 2 using the aluminum bat.
- Take a five minute rest.
- Repeat steps 2 through 4.
- Put the title of the investigation at the top of the page.
- The independent variable goes on the X axis.
- The dependent variable goes on the Y axis.
- List your data pairs in column form- X, Y. The upper right side of the graph paper is usually a good place to do this.
- Label your axes.
- Use an appropriate scale and one that is easy to work with. Multiples of two, five, or ten are much easier to work with than multiples of three, seven, or twelve, for example.
- Use a bar graph if the independent variable is made up of separate, distinct units. Ex.: brand of softball bat-there is no such thing as a brand and a half. You would use one bar for each brand tested.
- The Y axis on a bar graph should start at the value "zero". Otherwise, you may get a false impression of exactly how may times bigger one bar is compared to another.
- Leave a space between bars.
- Color, shade in, or otherwise decorate all bars so they stand out better.
- Use a line graph if the independent variable is a continuous measurement. Ex.: distance, temperature, volume. (There may be exceptions.)
- Draw a "best fit" line after coordinates are plotted on the line graph.
- The direction and steepness (slope) of the line drawn are what you want to look at to determine trends.
Constant: a factor that is kept the same for all trials in an experiment.
Control: the trial which serves as the basis for comparison for all other trials; the trial that gets no special treatment.
Dependent Variable: the variable that changes in response to the change that you made on purpose. This variable should always be something that you can measure or describe.
Experimental Design: a summary of all of the important aspects of your investigation. This tells the reader at a glance exactly what you are testing, how you plan to test it, how many times you will test it, and what you think will happen.
Graph: a "picture" of your data. X axis= independent variable ; Y axis= dependent variable.
Hypothesis: an educated guess; a prediction of what you think will happen in an investigation. The hypothesis is usually given in an "If...then" format. Example- If I use an aluminum bat, then I will hit the ball farther.
Independent Variable: the variable that you change on purpose.
Inference: a conclusion arrived at by reasoning from something known or assumed.
Observation: a noting (and recording) of facts and events, as for some scientific study. Observations can be made only by using one or more of the five senses.
Procedure: a set of step by step instructions.
Repeated Trials: running more than one test on a given variable during an investigation (or experiment).
Reproducibility: the ability of another scientist to duplicate your investigation and results.
Title: usually given in this format- "The effect of (insert your independent variable here) on (fill in your dependent variable here)." Ex: The Effect of the Type of Bat Used on How Far I Can Hit a Softball.
Variable: any factor in an investigation that can change.
Purpose of the introduction is to give a brief statement that explains exactly what your investigation is about and why you chose this topic. You also use this paragraph to state your prediction on the outcome of the experiment. You can embellish this section if you like, but you must answer these questions:
TITLE: The Effect of the Type of Bat on How Far You Can Hit a Softball
I love to play softball and wondered if the type of bat that I used made any difference in how well I hit the ball. (Questions 1 and 2 above) Specifically, I want to compare wooden bats with aluminum ones. (Question 3) I will see which bat hits the ball the farthest. This way I will know which kind I should buy. I think the aluminum bat will hit the ball farther than a wooden one. (Question 4 and 5)
Purpose of the experimental design is to summarize the important aspects of your investigation.
Title: The Effect of the Type of Bat on How Far You Can Hit a Softball
Hypothesis: If I use an aluminum bat, then I can hit the softball farther.
Independent Variable: The type of bat
How I will change it: wooden bat and aluminum bat
Dependent Variable: How far I hit the ball
Number of Trials: 10
Control: The aluminum bat (The control in this case is arbitrary, but you may wish to make it the aluminum bat, since that is the bat that you think will perform better.)
Constants:
Purpose of the procedure is to give detailed instructions on how to run your experiment. You should be specific enough so that another scientist could run the experiment exactly as you did. It is customary to list all materials needed as your first step.
Purpose of data tables is to give put your observations into an organized table in order to make the analysis (figuring out) of the data easier to do.
| How Far I Hit the Ball in Feet | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type Bat | T1 | T2 | T3 | T4 | T5 | T6 | T7 | T8 | T9 | T10 | Average Distance Hit in Feet |
| Aluminum | 95 | 70 | 80 | 80 | 60 | 40 | 50 | 55 | 75 | 65 | 67 |
| Wooden | 50 | 90 | 80 | 65 | 50 | 40 | 45 | 60 | 85 | 80 | 60.5 |
The middle section shows the dependent variable results. Note that there is one column for each set of trials run.
The last column is for the values derived from each row across. Oftentimes it will be the average or the sum of each row. Use the information here for your Y axis.
Purpose of a graph is to put data into "picture" form. It is sometimes easier to spot trends when the information is shown in graph form as opposed to in a data table.
Purpose of the conclusion is to discuss what you found out in your investigation as well as to evaluate how well the experiment was designed and run. Answer the following questions and use the described format.
First paragraph questions: 1. What was the purpose of the investigation? Remind the reader what it was that you were trying to find out in your experiment. 2. What were your major findings? In other words, what did the data tell you? 3.Did the data support your original hypothesis? Remember, you don't lose points if the data did not back up your hypothesis. Science is not about knowing all of the answers ahead of time; it's about coming up with good explanations given the evidence (observations) that you got. 4. How do your results compare to those of similar experiments?
Second paragraph questions: 1. What is a good explanation for the results you got? In other words, why do you think your experimental results came out the way they did? Be sure to explain these for each way you changed your independent variable. 2. What other miscellaneous observations did you make? For example, did you notice variables that you had not thought to look for before you started?
Third paragraph questions: 1. Do you have any recommendations on how to improve the procedure you used in this investigation? Could you have done things differently or better in order to make your findings stronger? You can always add more trials to improve an experiment, but is there anything else you would do differently if you were to run the experiment over again? 2. Do you have any ideas for new, related experiments? While doing this experiment, did it make you think of other experiments you might want to try? Did you think of any new questions you might want answered?
I conducted this experiment because I wanted to see which type of softball bat I should buy, a wooden one or an aluminum one. My trials showed that on the average, the aluminum bat hit the ball farther, but only by a few feet (67 vs. 60.5 feet, or a 9% difference). My data did support my hypothesis. Two of my classmates tried this same experiment and got about the same results that I did.
I think the aluminum bat hit the ball farther because it didn't absorb the impact from the ball as much as the softer wooden bat did. This would mean that even if I didn't swing, but just held the bat out, the ball would still bounce back more from the aluminum bat than from the wooden one. I think that the aluminum bat had a better grip on it, too.
If I did this experiment again, I would want to run a lot more trials because there wasn't too much difference in the results from the two bats. With the small number of trials I ran, I don't know if the difference was an "accident" or not. Maybe I could get some friends to be batters too, for even more trials. I think I would wear batting gloves also, so the grip on both bats would be about the same. For another experiment, I could try using a baseball instead of a softball. I could also try different kinds of pitches to see if the bats acted differently depending on the type of pitch thrown.
Use this sheet to check off the different parts of your report as you do them. Turn the sheet in with you report, or lose five points.
| Title Page:(5 points total) | Student "X" if done |
Points Possible | Points Earned |
| 1 point each item- title, name, school name, group name, date |
 |
5 |  |
| Introduction:(6 points total) | |||
| Statement of Problem | |
4 | |
| Hypothesis Statement | |
2 | |
| Experimental Design:(17 points total) | |||
| Title | |
2 | |
| Hypothesis | |
2 | |
| Independent Variable | |
2 | |
| How you changed it | |
1 | |
| Dependent Variable | |
2 | |
| Control | |
1 | |
| # of trials | |
1 | |
| Constants | |
6 | |
| Procedure:(13 points total) | |||
| Materials Listed Correctly | |
3 | |
| Clear Precise Directions | |
10 | |
| Data Table:(12 points total) | |||
| Title | |
2 | |
| Body of Data Table Done Correctly | |
10 | |
| Graph:(11 points total) | |||
| Correct Graph Type | |
1 | |
| Graph Done Correctly | |
10 | |
| Conclusion:(26 points total) | |||
| Purpose Stated | |
2 | |
| Major Findings Stated | |
2 | |
| Data supports hypothesis or not statement | |
2 | |
| Explanation of Findings | |
10 | |
| Additional Observations | |
1 | |
| Comparison to others' work | |
1 | |
| Recommendations for improvement | |
4 | |
| Recommendations for further study | |
4 | |
| Overall Format(10 points total) | |||
| Graph paper, pencil, ruler used as needed; neat & organized; paragraph form where appropriate | |
4 | |
| TOTAL GRADE | 100 | |
In addition, you have received an effort grade of
for the amount of work you put into the whole experiment,
including how much you challenged yourself. This mark will count as a quiz grade.