The Gummy Bear ProjectDue: Wednesday11-20

Early Bird +5 pts Monday11-18

Group # ______

Members: ______

The purpose of this experiment is to provide you the opportunity to practice the principles of experimental design. Within your group, you will need to design a controlled experiment to test a factor that will effect how far gummy bears will “fly” from a catapult. (The easiest factor to test will be the angle of the launch.) Below are the parameters that you MUST follow.

Materials given:No other materials may be used without prior approval of Mrs. Knight.

2 tongue depressors

1 rubber band

bag of gummy bears (minimum of 30 used)

a flat surface

tape measure

masking tape

markers & pencils are group provided

Factor(s) tested:

The easiest factor to test is the launch angle of the bears. This is done by placing books beneath one end of the flat surface to elevate the catapult to different angles. If you are testing one factor, the factor should have three levels. If you wish to test other factors, prior approval MUST be obtained from Mrs. Knight

Response variable:

How many treatments do you have?

Explain how you will utilize randomization? (Pretend that these gummy bears are actually people.)

What experimental design will you use? Explain

What controls do you need?

State your launch procedure.

What could possibly go wrong?

What do you expect to happen?

On Launch Day:

You will have the class period to launch your bears. It will take you most of the period to do this, if done correctly. You must turn in your 30 (minimum) bears used in the experiment at the end of class. Please return tape measures, tape, flat surface, etc, to proper places. (Perform a few practice launches before starting the experiment.)

Report:

The group should complete a typed report. This should be in paragraph form!!! (All group members should be responsible for parts of the report.) It should include:

Cover Page (Needs to be creative for full credit)

Introduction (paragraph summary of experiment – identify units, factors, etc.)

Controls – describe controls (paragraph)

Randomization process (paragraph) & list of bears in treatments

Raw data (chart)

Summary statistics (chart– mean, median, standard deviation, IQR, range)

Graphical displays (3 graphs - must be computer generated)

Interpretation of results (description of each treatment group AND a comparison)

What did go wrong?

What would you do differently?

Also include this page (completed).