Paper Towel Lab

Paper Towel Lab:

Question: Which brand of paper towel will be the most absorbent or which brand of paper towel will hold the most weight (be the strongest)

Hypothesis: Any possible answer to the questions above.

Procedures: Need to be very clear and precise. Do not leave out any steps- should include instructions so that any random student could perform the exact same experiment exactly as you did it, just by following the directions .

Diagram: Don’t Leave Blank – do the best you can. Manipulated Variable: type of paper towel

Responding Variable: The amount of weight held by paper towel or the amount of water absorbed by paper towel.

Results:(Record Your Data in Data Tables/Charts – must be neat & well organized!)

Make sure your charts are neat, well organized, labeled correctly and must include the averages of your trials.

Conclusion: Explain the Results of your experiment. Did you prove or disprove your hypothesis? Is this an inexcapable conclusion? Why or Why not? Explain how your data supports your hypothesis. Be very detailed and include observations/data from your experiment: Be sure you give a synopsis of your experimental results and describe your own personal observations. State your hypothesis and your conclusion. Then explain how your data matches your hypothesis and conclusion. You must always include data in your explanations. Use it as proof to support your statements/conclusions.

As for the inexcapable conclusion- be sure to address this and give an explanation as to why you think that your experiment leads to an inescapable conclusion or not. It is an inescapable conclusion if you feel that there were no other factors that could have influenced your results. This means that you did everything the exactly the same for all trials and you never deviated in any of your trials in any way shape or form. If you did then you have an inescapable conclusion. However, If you did deviate or alter your procedures for even a single trial, then you really do not have an inescapable conclusion. Be sure to give examples to support your statement. For example: I feel that we had an inescapable conclusion because our experimental procedures were followed to the letter for every single trial. I do not feel that there were any other variables besides the brand of paper towel that could have influenced the outcome of our experiment.

Or: I feel that we did not reach an inescapable conclusion because there were areas of inconsistency within our procedures- for example we did not always use the same type and order of weights. WE also did not do a good job of holding the paper towel and allowed the distance between our hands to change. These factors could have influenced the outcome of our experiment, causing us to not have an inescapable conclusion.

WHAT IS THE POINT? The point of this lab is to make sure you understand what a controlled experiment is and can identify the important aspects of a controlled experiment. You also should have learned about collecting data and writing conclusions. Particularly- you should now have a firm grasp on identifying inescapable conclusions within an experiment. Come see me if you have concerns on any of the concepts.