Alabama CA Rolling Heavy Weighted and Light Weighted Golf Balls Experiment
This is a portfolio for eight grade science. The assignment details and rubric are attached below.
Middle School Science
Experimenting with Motion Portfolio Directions
You will be designing and carrying out your own experiment to investigate the effect
different forces have on an object’s motion. The experiment you design should test at least
one of the forces that affect motion that you have learned about in this unit. It should be
different than any of the activities you have already completed in this unit.
The experiment must follow the steps of the scientific method. The final product should
include the following information:
research question
list of materials
hypothesis
written procedures
data table
conclusion
Develop the research question, list of materials, hypothesis, and written procedures. Have your
Learning Coach approve these steps before you carry out the experiment. Make any necessary
changes before conducting the experiment.
Your research question should meet the following criteria:
It should be answered by the experiment you design.
It should not be able to be answered with a yes or a no.
Your list of materials should meet the following criteria:
It should include the items you need to do your experiment.
It should include the amount of each item.
Your hypothesis should meet the following criteria:
It should be your prediction of what your results will be; it should be an if/then statement.
It should be an educated guess based on information you have already learned about
the laws of motion.
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Your procedures should meet the following criteria:
They should be very detailed.
They should include only one direction in each step.
They should be in the correct order.
Design a data table that is appropriate for the data you will collect during the experiment. Think
about which variables in your experiment are dependent and which ones are independent, and
place them on your data table in the correct spots. Your data table should meet the following
criteria:
It should have columns and rows labeled.
It should include appropriate units.
It should be organized and logical.
Here is an example of a data table.
Dependent Variable
Independent
Variable
Trial 1
Trial 2 Trial 3 Average
Once your data table is finalized, conduct the experiment and collect data. After all of the data
have been collected, create a graph representing the data from the motion experiment.
Your graph should meet the following criteria:
It should have appropriate title for the graph and the axes.
The graph must be appropriate for representing the type of data.
It should include all the data.
After all of the data have been collected and analyzed, write a conclusion.
Your conclusion should meet the following criteria:
It should explain if the hypothesis was correct or incorrect when compared to your
results.
It should include a summary of your results.
It should explain one thing you learned from doing the experiment.
© 2017 Connections Education LLC. All rights reserved.
Middle School Science
Experimenting with Motion Portfolio Rubric
Criteria
Question
and
Materials
Hypothesis
and
Procedure
Data Table
5
The question
is present and
is answered
by the
experiment.
The materials
list is present,
complete, and
includes
amounts of
each item
needed.
The
hypothesis is
present and
is a
prediction
based on
previous
knowledge of
the laws of
motion.
The
procedure is
present,
detailed, and
has only one
direction in
each step.
4
There is
one missing
or poorly
crafted
element of
the question
and
materials
list.
3
There are
two
missing or
poorly
crafted
elements
of the
question
and
materials
list.
2
There are
three
missing or
poorly
crafted
elements of
the
question
and
materials
list.
1
There are
four missing
or poorly
crafted
elements of
the question
and
materials
list.
There is
one missing
or poorly
crafted
element of
the
hypothesis
and
procedure.
There are
two
missing
or poorly
crafted
elements
of the
hypothesis
and
procedure.
There are
three
missing or
poorly
crafted
elements of
the
hypothesis
and
procedure.
There are
four missing
or poorly
crafted
elements of
the
hypothesis
and
procedure.
The data
table is
present, has
labeled
columns and
rows,
includes
appropriate
units, and is
organized
and logical.
There is one
missing or
poorly
crafted
element of
the data
table.
There are
two missing
or poorly
crafted
elements of
the data
table.
There are
three
missing or
poorly crafted
elements of
the data
table.
© 2013 Connections Education LLC. All rights reserved.
Score
/5
/5
/4
Criteria
Graph
5
4
Three criteria
are well
executed:
1. It should
have
appropriate title
for the graph
and the axes.
3
One graph
accuracy
criterion is
missing or
poorly
executed.
2
Two graph
accuracy
criteria are
missing or
poorly
executed.
1
Three graph
accuracy
criteria are
missing or
poorly
executed.
Score
2. The graph
must be
appropriate for
representing the
type of data.
/4
3. It should
include all the
data.
The conclusion is
present, addresses
the hypothesis,
includes a summary
of the results,
explains any errors
Conclusion that were made,
and includes one
thing learned during
the experiment.
There is one
missing or
poorly crafted
element of the
conclusion.
There are two
missing or
poorly crafted
elements of
the
conclusion.
There are three
missing or
poorly crafted
elements of the
conclusion.
There are four
missing or
poorly crafted
elements of the
conclusion.
/5
Total Points
Comments
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