# SA NC Doing Investigations/Chapter 4
## Ideas for investigations

Ideally learners should choose their own questions because a true investigation will follow a topic that is of interest to and stimulates the imagination of the investigator. In reality the educator may have to prompt learners or even assign questions. One hopes that by doing investigations learners will start developing a more critical eye for their own questions.
At the MSTotY workshop in March 2004, the participants were asked to brainstorm ideas for investigations and then to classify them according to a classification scheme. The purpose of the exercise was to gain a better understanding of what one might expect from investigations on these topics. The process of classifying ideas for investigations also gave the participants the opportunity to imagine the directions these ideas might take a learner and the potential pitfalls and complexities hidden in the topics. One can never determine these exactly because by the very nature of an investigation that we cannot, nor should not, be precise about the end point. However, if an investigation activity is to be well managed, educators had better try to gain some insight into the possibilities presented by a topic for investigation before agreeing to it. Obviously one's knowledge of particular learners must be taken into account.

### A classification scheme for investigation topics

Is the topic from one or some of these disciplines?
| Biology | Biol | Concerning living things including plants and simple animals |
| Physics | Phys | Concerning the macroscopic, physical world of our everyday experience |
| Chemistry | Chem | Concerning the reactions between substances and the energy that is lost and gained during reactions. |
| Geology | Geol | Concerning the physical features of and changes to the Earth |
| Mathematics | Math | Number and relationships |
What is the phase level of the topic?
| Phase | Int/Sen/FET | Intermediate or Senior Phase or the FET Band |
Which of these categories does the topic fit into?
| Investigation of effect on acceleration when mass is increased | Inv | Refers to study or research concerning a focused question in which one converges on one or some possible answers |
| Exploration | Expl | Refers to a study where, at the start, one does not have a definite focus, more of a data gathering exercise and there-after an examination of the data to look for points of interest. |
... and which of these?
| Theoretical | Th | A study where one deals with abstract ideas (e.g. an exploration of number patterns) or models of reality but not directly with the real thing itself |
| Practical | Pr | A direct, hands-on study of an object or objects. |
... and which of these?
| Observational | Obs | Observation, collection of data and a treatment of that data |
| Experimental | Exp | Where one deliberately changes something to see what happens measurements are taken before and after any change |
Do I have any concerns about the topic itself of where it may lead?

### Classifying science and mathematics investigations

Imagine learners are asked to come up with questions for their own investigations. You collect the questions in the class and the list looks like the example below. By classifying the ideas you can determine whether they are appropriate for the age and phase of the learners. For the purposes of managing the investigation you can determine what resources the learners will need and what sort of inputs you may have to make. The final judgment you must make &Acirc &shy and the analysis should help you make it - is whether the topic is feasible. To classify an intended investigation accurately you must discuss it with the learner. A discussion will help you to advise the learner if his/her intentions seem too ambitious and together you can agree on appropriate modifications or a complete re-think. This negotiation places you, the educator, in a much stronger position to monitor the investigation's progress.
As an exercise try to classify some of the topics suggested here. Most of the topics are appropriate to more than one phase but this will depend on the conceptual level at which learners attack the problems and analyse their results.
| TOPIC | Classification |
| e.g. Height of water from sprinklers | e.g. Phys (Math) / Int or Sen / Inv / Pr / Exp /Eth |
| Analysis of beverages | |
| Analysis of health juices | |
| Ants, foraging and food | |
| Bicycles and balance | |
| Bird beak shapes and feeding habits | |
| Choices of fabrics for items of clothing | |
| Communication amongst horses | |
| Computer memory | |
| Dog food: manufacture and composition | |
| Dogs' hair: distribution and thickness | |
| Durability of paints | |
| Edible flowers | |
| Effects of coffee | |
| Exhaust pipes and form of pollution control | |
| Factors affecting dissolving | |
| Freezing seawater: recovering fresh water | |
| Fuels: paraffin, petrol, "Blitz" and spirits | |
| Grasshopper wings | |
| Heartbeats and heart rates | |
| HIV/AIDS &shy what it is, what it does and how to prevent it | |
| Hydraulics and temperature | |
| Investigating toothpaste | |
| Mirrors, reflection and radiation | |
| Parachutes | |
| Patterns in shells / flowers / Nature | |
| Plant- and flower patterns | |
| Pleasing shapes | |
| Pool balls: analysing collisions | |
| Rates of evaporation | |
| Rates of melting and cooling &shy ice and water | |
| Recall levels after reading aloud and reading silently | |
| Recovery of salts from seawater | |
| Relative dimensions of cats and kittens | |
| Running and fitness levels | |
| Seagull/garden bird habits / habitats | |
| Seawater and skin itching | |
| Seeds: what budgies eat and don't/can't eat | |
| Sense of direction in animals | |
| Shopping patterns | |
| Sounds horses react to | |
| Sunflower seeds and oils | |
| Tartrazine's effects on teen-agers, toddlers and adults | |
| The effects of fruit diets | |
| The flight of soccer balls | |
| Using seawater in drought | |
| Water droplets | |
| Why fruits change colour | |
These topics have already been classified according to their phase-appropriateness. Do you agree with the classification? Are any of the topics too advanced for the senior phase or too simple for the intermediate phase? Which topics could be investigated at either phase? Are any of these topics suitable for the FET band? How would you modify the topics for FET? What aspects of any topics would you ask an FET learner to concentrate on?
* Intermediate Phase
* `Breathe in oxygen & breathe out carbon dioxide'?
* Calendar patterns
* Cell phone tariffs
* Compass patterns
* Divisibility of numbers
* Electronic mousetrap
* Investigate number sequences
* Net patterns
* Number patterns from 1-100
* Patterns in stars
* Patterns in the presentation of food
* Plants in our school garden
* Polygons
* Probabilities &shy heads or tails
* Water pumps
* Weaving patterns
* Senior Phase
* Applications of calculus
* Automatic shoe polisher
* Census 2004
* Colours and hues
* Disseminating information
* Fuel consumption
* Geometric theorems
* Loci
* Pricing patterns
* Replacing the electric bulb
* Savings and investments
* Survey of teenage drinking habits
* Temperature regulation and materials
* The history of numbers
* Toothbrush effectiveness
* Trig Wheel
* Weather forecasting
* FET Band
* Applications of calculus
* Weaving patterns
* Economics of fashion
* Global warming
* Etc.