Scientific Report Discussion Examples

SAMPLE DISCUSSIONS EXAMPLE 1 In the experiment, the aim was to find out if the amount of water in a container affected the rate of seed germination. The experiment proved that it doesn’t affect the rate, as seen in the results. The hypothesis stated that the more water there is in a container, the faster the seeds will germinate. This was not supported as all of the seeds germinated at the same time. An experiment that was supposed to last for 4 days only lasted for 1, as all of the seeds used in the experiment germinated in 20 hours. Some of the seeds may have germinated in less than 20 hours, but this cannot be known exactly as they germinated overnight so a close eye could not be kept on the seeds. Because of this, the results of the experiment are all exactly the same. To improve the investigation, the recording of results should start earlier in the day, so that results can be recorded to know exactly how long it takes for the seeds to germinate. Also, the container used to put the seeds in was very deep, so it made it hard to observe the seeds as the container was too high. It would have made the experiment better if flat containers were used, such as Petri dishes, were used.

Comment [j1]: Leave out statements like this until the conclusion

Comment [j2]: Good improvements

Taking recordings every 2 hours would also benefit the experiment, to ensure that the seeds won’t germinate suddenly all around the same time and so that major changes can be easily recorded and noticeable. Also, the amount of water placed in the containers should be reduced, as the seeds inside the container with the 40ml of water didn’t really need that much water and the chances of the seeds drowning could be high. I think containers with 15ml, 20ml and 25ml of water would be a better choice.

Comment [j3]: Avoid definite statements as you can not know this, use ‘might’ or ‘may’

I was not able to record which seeds germinated the fastest. Without any difference between any of the results, not much can be learned from this experiment except that the seeds germinated at the same time, which I don’t think is exactly accurate because I was not able to record overnight. The reliability of my results is extremely low as it was not a fair test. Because I had to do my experiment from home, I did not have 3 exact containers that I could use to put my seeds in. One of my containers was light blue, while the two others were dark blue. This made the experiment unfair as the light blue container probably reflected off light.

Comment [j5]: No Pronouns

The experiment did not come across any problems, except minor problems such as having to forgetting to record the results by 5 minutes. 5 minutes probably wouldn’t have made a difference to the results, but ensuring accuracy in an experiment would make the test fairer.

Comment [j4]: Container s with 15ml, 20ml and 25ml of water may be a better choice

Comment [j6]: This is good, it explains why something is not fair or reliable Comment [j7]: Grammati cal error, get someone to proofread your work to avoid these Comment [j8]: There was actually the other problem of different coloured containers recorded above, the timing of the experiment and the height of the containers

To extend my investigation, more trials could be made to ensure accuracy, in case a few beans die throughout the process of recording. More water containers with different amounts of water inside could also be added. A container containing absolutely no water could be included as well. The amount of beans in a dish could be doubled just to make sure the results are precise. The trend of my experiment was that it the amount of water added to the seed does not make a difference to how fast the seed germinates, as seen through the results, which show that all of the seeds germinated at the same time.

Comment [j9]: Many people mentioned having more trials, but few people mentioned why, this was well done here. This is actually an improvement rather than an extension Comment [j10]: This is an extension as it gives us more varieties of the independent variable Comment [j11]: An improvement, not an extension Comment [j12]: Well done

EXAMPLE 2 The purpose of this investigation is to investigate and gather information about the affection of the rate of seed germination when the temperature of water is changed. The hypothesis of this experiment is that if the temperature of water affects the rate of seed germination, then the plant that is constantly watered with cold water will germinate slower. In this investigation, the results show that none of the seeds have germinated on the first day but most of the seeds start to germinate on the second day and by the third day, all of the seeds have germinated. In the cup that was watered with cold water, 4 seeds have germinated in 24 hours and the remaining two seeds germinated 12 hours later (36 hours). The average of this cup is 28 hours. In the cup that was watered with tap water, none of the seeds have germinated on the first day and in the morning of the second day but they have all germinated on the second night (36 hours). This cup’s average is 36 hours. In the cup that was watered with hot water, 2 seeds started to germinate in the second morning (24 hours) and 3 more seeds germinated 12 hours later (36 hours) and the last seed germinated in the third morning (48 hours). This cup’s average is 34 hours. The results of this experiment is not very reliable, all of the cups that were used to plant the seeds were the same size and colour, the temperature of water was the same everyday for each cup but the amount of water for each cup was not accurate since it was estimated instead of using a beaker or a measurement cup. Also, the amount of sunlight was not the same for each plant everyday and this can affect the rate of seed germination. The results did not show a clear relationship between the temperature of water and the rate of seed germination. Seeds that were watered with cold water germinated the fastest; however, seeds that were watered with tap water germinated the slowest and seeds watered with hot water germinated moderately. Therefore, it is not proved in the results that seeds germinate faster or slower when the water temperature was increased or decreased. A few problems were faced during this experiment. The first problem was that the seeds were growing too fast and that they all grew overnight, which does not really prove anything, so this experiment was done again. Another problem was the decision of where the seeds should be placed, since the seeds were put in a very sunny place in the first trial of the experiment and they all grew overnight, the seeds were placed in the shade on the second trial for better

Comment [j13]: No personal Pronouns in the whole Discussion, well done!

Comment [j14]: Good summary of results that includes averages

Comment [j15]: Good points explaining why the results are not reliable Comment [j16]: This statement shows that there was no trend. It is helpful to use the word ‘trend’ when talking about them so that it is easier for your teacher to spot when you are talking about it Comment [j17]: You should leave these sort of statements until the conclusion

results. Also, another problem was that the cotton buds underneath the seeds were still very wet on the second day after they were watered on the first day, so the seeds were watered every second day in this experiment. This investigation can be improved if the amount of water was not estimated but measured with a beaker or a measuring cup so that each plant receives the same amount of water. It is suggested that a thermometer should be used to measure the temperature of the water instead of using the person’s hands to feel it, so that the experiment can be more accurate and reliable. Also, this experiment can be improved if the seeds are checked every 4 hours instead of every 12 hours so that the time of seeds germination is more precise and accurate. This experiment can be extended by using different types of water, for example, distilled water, mineral water, and spring water. In this experiment, green bean seeds from Hong Kong are used, it is suggested this experiment to be repeated with green bean seeds that are from other countries so that a more specific conclusion can be made.

Comment [j18]: Mentio ns problems and how they were overcome

Comment [j19]: Great use of the word ‘suggeted’. The person is not saying that a thermometer will definitely improve results but that it could be a good idea

Comment [j20]: Two ways to extend, increasing the range ofteh independent variable and examining beans from other places to see if they yield similar results

EXAMPLE 3

In my experiment, I positioned the three Petri dishes at various distances from a fan that was constantly blowing, providing each Petri dish with a different level of airflow. My hypothesis was that the seeds with high airflow would germinate faster than those with low and medium airflow.

Comment [j21]: Pesky personal pronouns polluting perhaps perfect plant papers!

My results proved this, showing the seeds in high airflow to have germinated faster in the five day period than the seeds at low and medium airflow. In the five days, five of the seeds in high airflow germinated, three seeds in the medium airflow germinated and four seeds in the low airflow germinated. The seeds in high airflow began to germinate very quickly, one of them germinated in less than five hours whereas in the medium and low airflow, it took two days for a single seed to germinate. After the high airflow, the seeds in low airflow germinated the fastest, and the medium germinated the slowest. Taking two days for one seed to germinate and then taking another two days for a second seed to germinate which, compared to the other two sets of seeds, is very slow. In high airflow, only one seed didn’t germinate. In medium airflow, three seeds didn’t germinate and in low airflow, two seeds didn’t germinate. It is assumed that, if given more time, they would have all germinated.

Comment [j22]: Save the big news for the conclusion

When looking at the results, I noticed some trends. In several occasions, it seemed that when one a seed in one level of airflow germinated, another seed in a different airflow level would germinate as well. For example, as you can see in the graph below on day 5 at five o’ clock one seed had germinated form each level of airflow more than there had been at twelve o’ clock on the same day. Similar instances are shown on day three at twelve o’clock, a seed from each airflow level germinated between then and five o’clock on the previous day. Another thing I noticed is that between five o’clock on day three and five o’clock on day four, there were no changes to the amount of seeds germinated until twelve o’clock on day five where, over night, a seed germinated in both the medium and low airflow groups.

Comment [j23]: Good, this is spelling out that this paragraph is about trends

Though out my test, I was careful to eliminate any variables that would affect the experiments reliability. One thing about the test that I think is not as fair as I hoped is the results of the seeds in the

low airflow. The seeds were set far away enough that the airflow from the fan did not reach them very well, creating a low airflow environment. This would have been fine except I think that the way that the seeds were positioned affected the sunlight they each received, meaning the low airflow seeds got more sun time. I think the low airflow seeds germinated faster than the medium airflow seeds purely because it got more sunlight and regardless of the airflow because I think that the sun affects plants more than the flow of air does. The tests for the medium and high air flow seeds were completely reliable and were still able to give me appropriate data to support my hypothesis. Another thing that may have affected the experiments reliability is humidity, although I had a de-humidifier running constantly in the room, humidity would be there naturally, higher n some days than others which may have affected the speed of germination. One big thing that may affect my results is that it is not definite that the airflow was the variable that sped up the germination, but rather the cooler temperature produced by the fan. With the resources I had, I could not think of a way that I could test airflow without changing the temperature.

During my experiment I had very few problems. The main one that I had was that the cotton wool in the Petri dishes kept on flying out of the dishes at night when the water dried and the fan blew them away. To solve this, I placed two small clay balls in the center of the dishes, on top of the wool. This meant that they no longer blew away.

There are quite a few ways my experiment could be improved. One of the ways is to test more variations of airflow. Instead of having low, medium and high airflow. I could have five different Petri dishes and number them, one being the closest to the fan and five being the farthest. I would also improve it by placing it in a room where the sunlight was spread evenly to keep from repeating the results I gained from the Petri dish in low airflow. I would also set up an identical experiment beside it, but use a fan heater on the same power as the fan to eliminate the possibility of the temperature affecting the plants. I would also run the experiment for two weeks instead of just five days to give all the seeds a chance to germinate to get the maximum data possible.

If I were to extend my experiment I would also look into seeing the effect of various temperatures on the seeds and how it affects germination as this could be one of the contributing factors as to

Comment [j24]: Good reasoning, but be careful when making assumptions unless you have some other research that you can reference that backs it up Comment [j25]: In particular, it would be expected that the humidity would be higher near the low airflow plants as the wind would have promoted evaporation and dried out the cotton wool near the fan first. An observation about this would have been good to record. Comment [j26]: You might have been able to find some information if you researched this. Fans only make us feel cool because they take the air, warmed by our bodies, and strip it away from where it hangs around next to our skin and by increasing evaporation. If you had covered the dishes so that evaporation could not occur, the fan should not have affected the temperature of the seeds as the seeds don’t produce heat of their own. Of course then the wind would have no affect at all on the seeds! Comment [j27]: The different sunlight you mentioned before was also a problem Comment [j28]: Or you could do it in a dark room. Sunlight is not essential for germination Comment [j29]: Wouldn’ t the closer seeds be hotter?

why the high airflow (and lower temperature) seeds germinated faster. I would also look into how airflow affects the height and condition of the plants if I had longer to do the experiment. This would be so I could get data on whether high airflow affects the actual plants and not just the speed at which they germinate.

Comment [j30]: This is great because you are applying something that you noticed as a problem and thinking of ways that you could test if it is the case