Investigations
Aren't all scientific Experiments investigations? NO!
There are lots of ways that scientists can investigate to find answers to their questions just by observing, that is without changing anything the way they do in an experiment. These are often called observational studies. For example, scientists have learned about the social habits of Africa's poisounous rats by observing their behavior in nature (not by studying them in a laboratory). Scientists have also found evidence of plastic in the snow on Mount Everest by collecting samples (they didn't put the plastic there themselves to see how that affects the snow). Scientists have also discovered a new species of spider by observing and comparing it to other spiders.
How do I design an observational study?
Start by asking a question to investigate-- if you can look up the answer, it's not a good question. Think of something you would need to gather data to answer! There are lots of questions you can answer on your own just by observing! A good question will be one that:
Can't be answered with 'yes' or 'no'
Asks how or why something occurs
Can you think of what you would observe in order to answer the questions below?
How do the animals in my neighborhood interact with each other?
How quickly do fingernails grow?
How does the length of sunlight change from day to day?
What do I need to keep in mind?
You should be able to collect data without changing the thing you are observing. For example:
You can observe the moon in the sky changing, but you are not changing it
You can observe the types of seeds the birds in your yard prefer without doing anything to the birds
Keeping track of your observations is important! Think about what you will observe, when you will observe, and how you will record that information. You may need specific tools to measure as well!
