High School Science Fair Research

There are two types of science research: investigative research and
experimental research. When Isaac Newton, perhaps the greatest scientist of all time, said: “If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants,” he was talking about investigative research. Education is a form of investigative research not only for the student but also for the teacher. Obviously the student learns from the teacher, but the teacher also learns the subject thoroughly by explaining the concepts of the subject to the student.

Thinking in depth about a subject can be investigative research. Have you ever asked a teacher a question about a concept that you don’t understand and discover that, as you formulate the question, you suddenly find that in fact you do understand?

Thomas Edison, the most prolific of inventors, said: “Genius is one
percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.” Edison did not invent the light bulb. He bought patents from others and developed a practical, commercially-feasible light bulb. Edison continued the development of the light bulb, starting where others had left off. He “stood on the shoulders of giants.” The key to developing a practical light bulb was to find a long-lasting filament. After hundreds of trials with many different materials, Edison discovered a carbonized bamboo filament that lasted for 1200 hours. The “Re” in the word, Research, means to search again, again and again.

Your investigative research should include visits to libraries, bookstores, museums and science-supply stores. Request information from the National Academy of Sciences and the Smithsonian Institution. Read encyclopedias, textbooks and scientific journals. Access the Internet.

The link between investigative research and experimental research is the
hypothesis. Your investigative research may suggest a question such as, does salt change the boiling point of water? A general form of the question is: does a change in x produce a change in y? The question can be put in a more formal form, the hypothesis: if salt is dissolved in water then the boiling point of the water will change. A general form of the hypotheses is: if x is changed then the effect is a change in y. X is the independent variable and y is the dependent variable. In our example salt is the independent variable. We vary the amount of salt that is added to the water and measure the difference, if any, in the temperature of the boiling point. The temperature of the boiling point is the dependent variable. A constant is a parameter that is not allowed to change during the course of the experiment. In our example, the amount of water is a constant.

The hypothesis is an integral part of the scientific method, which is defined in 6 steps as follows.
1 Conduct investigative research.
2 Form the hypothesis or ask the question.
3 Perform experiments (multiple times) and collect data;
4 Analyze the data.
5 If the experimental data supports the hypothesis, proceed to
Step 6; else, formulate a new hypothesis and repeat Steps 3 – 5.
6 Present your results and conclusions.

We have seen that the investigative research leads to the question; the
question is formally stated as the hypothesis and we are now prepared to
complete the remainder of the scientific method and the experimental
research. Additional information: sciencenerddepot.com