2017-2018 Science Fair

Sample size
1. Below, put what you planned for sample size and/or repeated measures (#9 in experimental proposal).
60 people.

2. Below, put the actual sample size and/or repeated measures you completed by the deadline (February
12).
65 people.

3. If there are differences between your initial plan and what you completed by the deadline, explain
a) why they are different, and
b) what you could have done differently to reach your goal on time.

Procedure
4. Below, paste a copy of your planned steps from your project proposal (#15).
1. On December 11th I will begin creating a survey
2. It will ask people to submit the lengths of the ring and index fingers of their right hand in centimeters as
well as their birth assigned gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation
3. It will be completely anonymous and even I will not know who answered what
4. On December 27th I will speak to Ms. Osorio and other administrations people about helping me send
out my survey to all of high school as well as 7th and 8th graders
5. On January 1st the survey will be sent out for the first time to the aforementioned people
6. On January 4th I will send the survey to my friends from Duke TiP to hopefully get a higher LGBT
sample
7. Depending on how many responses I get, I will send out the survey a second time on January 25th
8. I will enter all of the information into my data table and begin creating a graph

5. Carefully look over your initial plans. In a numbered or bullet-pointed list below,
a) identify in detail things you actually did differently, and
b) explain why you made each change.
- I did not end up doing number 6. Given the high amount of responses that I got from sending the
survey out the first time, I didn’t find it necessary to send it again.

Variables
6. In your proposal, find your standardized (#8) and extraneous variables (#10) and list them in the table
below.
Standardized variables Extraneous variables

Where people measure their fingers from Sample size

(number of subjects)
 Repeated measures
(how many times is the test repeated?)

7. Standardized variable review:

Did you successfully standardize all the variables you planned to?
If not, explain why not.
Yes.

8. Extraneous variable review:

Were there other factors (that you did not originally list) that you think could have affected your results?
Identify them and explain your answer.
Yes. I did not consider which hand people would be measuring. Some people may have slightly bigger or
smaller fourth/second fingers on their right and left hands.

Impact on Results
9. Think about all the ways the implementation of your experiment differed from your initial plans (your
answers to questions above).
Discuss how these changes may make your project stronger and/or make it weaker (i.e. make your
results more reliable or less reliable).
I did not end up sending out my survey a second time. This may have weakened my project as I could
have received more responses had I sent the survey out again.

Reflection on learning
In August, y’all shared your thoughts on what the point of school is. Many of your responses involved
building skills. You may recognize some of them in this list below, which has a few of my top priorities for
skills to build in this class.

10. Read over the skills and indicate (with an X or a comment) where you feel you are with each, at this
point in the year.

I think I have I’m making progress. I’m struggling: I see This is a very weak
very strong I feel pretty good some improvement area for me. I don’t feel
skills in this about it. but it’s really hard. I’ve improved at all.

Design X
experiments

Manage​ time & X

long term work

Work​ ​well X
independently:
with focus,
self-reliance, &
initiative

Own ​your own X

learning: take
responsibility for
your work;
know when you
need help and
ask for it.