Conclusion

Key components

Make a conclusive statement (which must incorporate experimental range)

Consider the validity of your data

1. Was the data close to your trend line?
2. Did all the data points follow the trend?
3. Was there enough data?

Offer a scientific explanation

Sentence starters

At the end of this experiment, I ended up with ____________ of…

It was found that…

These results make sense/ do not make sense because….

When ___________________________________, I can infer/conclude that…

Since __________________________________________, I can infer/ conclude that…

Based on the fact that ______________________________, I can infer/conclude that…

At the end of the experiment, I ended up with _____, but I should have gotten…

My data show that ....

My data suggest that ...

This might be because ...

Another source that supports this reason is... which says...

I conclude that this experiment has / has not helped me solve my original problem. This is because...

Examples

Flying an airplane – initial height vs distance flown

Level 1-2:

As the initial height increased, the distance the plane flew increased.

Level 3-4:

As the initial height increased, the distance the plane flew increased. This can be seen by the trend line on my graph which curves upwards.

Level 5-6:

As the initial height increased, the distance the plane flew increased. This can be seen by the trend line on my graph which curves upwards. This is because there is more gravity at higher heights. As it says in Wikipedia, gravity is different in different places on Earth. (note this is incorrect scientific reasoning!!!)

"Gravity of Earth." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2015.

Level 7-8:

As the initial height increased, the distance the plane flew increased. This can be seen by the trend line on my graph which curves upwards. According to ‘Forces on an Airplane’, Gravity, lift and weight are the three main forces acting on the paper airplane in flight with lift opposing both gravity and drag. Gravity is constant over the heights of this experiment, so the plane will take more time to land and therefore the plane will go farther. The lift force acts upward and with higher heights it keeps the plane in the air for longer time leading to a longer distance.

"Forces on an Airplane." Forces on an Airplane. Ed. Tom Benson. NASA, 12 June 2014. Web. 05 Apr. 2015.

Evaluating a set of results

• Have you got enough results? If you have drawn a graph, you should have at least 5 different points on it.

• How reliable are your results? You can use a graph to help you to decide whether or not your results are reliable.

• Are there any results that do not fit the pattern? If there are, can you explain them?

• Did you repeat any measurements? If your measurements were almost the same when you repeated them, your results are probably reliable. If there is a big difference between repeated results, then there was probably something wrong with your experiment.

A good way of evaluating an investigation is to work with another group. Both groups explain their methods and results, and then you all discuss the method and the reliability of the results.