Customizable Design of Experiments Project Ideas for High School: Moldy Bread
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Exploring the Art of Experimental Design: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students and Educators
By Oliver Smith
Teaching experimental design and letting students develop their own questions and hypotheses takes time. These materials have been created to scaffold and structure the process to allow teachers to focus on improving the key ideas in experimental design.
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Storyboard Description
Experimental Design - completed planning worksheet
Storyboard Text
- Question-Whatdoyouwanttofindout?
- ExplanationofHypothesis
- Howdoestemperatureaffectmoldgrowthonbread?
- Moldisalivingorganism.Thechemicalreactionsthatkeepthemold aliveareaffectedbytemperature.Whenweincreasethetemperature, thespeedofthesechemicalreactionsincreases.Therefore,ifwe increasethetemperature,moremoldshouldgrowonthebread.
- Hypothesis
- Prediction
- IfIincreasethetemperature,thenmoldwillgrowmore quicklyonthebread.
- Thepieceofbreadkeptinthewarmestlocationwill havethemostmoldgrowth.
- IndependentVariable
- Whatisyourrange?Howmanytimeswillyourepeatthetest?
- Thetemperatureofstoragespace
- Therewillbe2differenttemperatures: Refrigeratortemperature40°F(4°C) Roomtemperature73°F(23°C). Iwillrepeattheexperiment3timesateach temperature.
- Howwillyoumeasureyourdependentvariable?
- DependentVariable
- Theamountofmoldonthebread
- UsingatransparentgridIwillcalculatethe areaofthebreadwhichiscoveredinmold.
- ControlledVariables
- Howwillyoukeepthemconstant?
- 1.Amountoflight 2.Exposuretoair 3.Typeofbread 4.Sizeofbreadslice
- 1.Allthebreadsliceswillbeputinpaperbagsso theyareallinthedark. 2.Allthebreadsliceswillbeputinplasticbags. 3.Allthebreadsliceswillbetakenfromthesame loaf. 4.Breadsliceswillbechosenthatarethesamesize.
- Riskasssessment
- Howcantheserisksbemanaged?
- Youcouldhaveanallergicreactiontomold. Youcouldinhalethemold.
- Ifyouareallergictomolddon'ttakepartin theexperiment. Donotopenthebagsattheendofthe experimentanddisposeofthemcarefully.
- Diagram
- Materials-Whatdoyouneedto completethisexperiment?Why?
- •6slicesofbreadthatarethesamesize •Arefrigerator-keptataconstanttemperature •Awarmplace-keptataconstanttemperature •6plasticbags-tokeepthebreadinandstopthe moldgettingout •6paperbags-tokeepthesunlightout •Aruler-tomeasurethemoldspots •Atransparentgrid-tohelpworkouttheareaof breadthatiscoveredinmold •Amarker-tolabelthebags
- Plan-Howareyougoingtocarryitoutsafely?
- 1.Usethemarkerpentolabelthe6bagssotheycanbeidentifiedeasilylater.Placeasliceof breadineachbag. 2.Putthebagsinsidepaperbagsandput3intothefridgeand3inacloset. 3.Leavethebagsfor2days. 4.Checkthebagseverydayandrecordhowmuchofthesurfaceareaiscoveredinmold.This canbedoneusingatransparentgrid. 5.Recordyourresultsinatable. 6.Donotopenthebagsanddisposeofthemcarefullyintothetrash.
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