Experimental Design DiagramsName: Ashley B & Carly J HR

A. State your question- How far will the rocket launch with a certain amount of water in
the bottom.
B. Make a prediction showing what you think will happen in the experiment.
If…(something happens) Then…(what is the outcome) Because…(why you think this) If we
put more water in the bottom, then the rocket wont launch as far because it is too heavy, and
If we don't put as much water in the bottom, then it wouldn't go as far either.
C. Create a data table.
1. When making a data table, follow the example given and be sure that…
2. It has a brief descriptive title in the form of “(dependent variable) DEPENDS ON (independent
variable)”
3. The first column is for the independent variable, the one you are changing.
4. The next column(s) are for trials of the dependent variable.
5. The last column is for the best value (average) of the dependent variable.
6. The columns of data begin with a label naming the variable and the units in which it is
measured. Be sure to include the units of the variables, as shown below.
7. The data are entered as numbers only.
8. The last row should contain the source of the data.

Length traveled depends on the amount of water and size of fins

Amount of water Length traveled Average Length
(milliliters) traveled
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3

100 12 6 9 9
500 16 21 30 22.33
1000 9 7 14 10
2000 4 2 0 2

Source: Ashley Bosch Carly Johnson May 2010

D. List 5 controlled variables.

-Bottle size
-same launching angle
-same fin size
-number of fins (4)
-same kind of materials
E. List the materials needed for the experiment.
- 2 liter pop bottle
- 20 fl oz bottle
- cardboard

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 - duct tape
- water
- launcher
- meter stick
F. Write out a step by step procedure for carrying out the experiment.
*Someone should be able to repeat your experiment from your procedure.
1. Take a 2 liter pop bottle and fill with the appropriate amount of water for each
experiment
2. Use duct tape to tape the 20 oz bottle to the 2 liter, bottoms together.
3. Make sure cap is on the 20 oz bottle
4. Use duct tape to tape the 4 appropriate sized fins on bottom bottle (2 L)
5. take outside to launch and measure length
6. Launch at a 45 degree angle
7. Measure how far bottle launched using meter stick
8. Carry out experiment, and repeat needed steps for each trial.
G. Check your experimental design diagram with your instructor and carry out the
experiment.
H. Fill in the data table.
I. Graph your data on Excel. (Use the graphing guidelines.)
J. Write a conclusion.
The results we collected matched the hypothesis correctly. We found and hypothesized
that If there is too little water in the bottle, or if there is too much water in the bottom, then
the rocket won't travel as far, because it is too light to get anywhere or too heavy to get
launched very far.
1. Does your data support your hypothesis? Yes we figured logically what would really
happen. The graph shows this too when we plugged in out results. Why or why not?
(Describe by referring to your data! Be sure you talk about your data and graph.)
2. What changes would you make if you did the experiment again and why? (Be specific
to the individual experiment…NOT “Be more accurate” “Do more trials”) Have a more
durable rocket because the data wasn't exactly accurate because we lost our first
rocket by launching it onto the roof, and our 2nd rocket let out lots of water before it
even was launched, so that screwed some things up too. And I would also launch
without buildings nearby so we didn't get the risk of loosing the rocket on top of the
buildings.

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