F182 INVESTIGATING SCIENCE • SET ASSIGNMENT B • LIVE 2026–2028 • SCENARIO 3
F182 • Investigating Science

Research clinic & preliminary-test thinking

Today is less about collecting more information and more about showing ownership: explaining your research, checking feasibility, finalising P1, and identifying what preliminary testing will need to find out.

Scenario 3 • How the incline of a slope affects the acceleration of an object
The website teaches and gives directions. Your Research Trail stores your research notes. Your Student Document contains your coursework.
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WHERE DOES THE WORK GO?💬 THINK / DISCUSS = nothing to write🔎 RESEARCH TRAIL = research notes & sources📝 STUDENT DOCUMENT = coursework👤 TEACHER CHECKPOINT = be ready to explain
Start here

Three resources. Three different jobs.

Today you will move more slowly between resources: learn on the WEBSITE, use the RESEARCH TRAIL only to fill genuine gaps, then finalise P1 in the STUDENT DOCUMENT after a teacher conversation.

1 • WEBSITELearn a skill, discuss examples and read the next instruction.
Do not try to record an answer to every question on the page.
2 • RESEARCH TRAILRecord searches, exact sources, credibility, own-word notes, numerical data and decisions the research could influence.
3 • STUDENT DOCUMENTWrite your own assessed evidence when the website specifically tells you to switch to it.
1
PHASE 1 • LEARN ON THE WEBSITE
Keep both working documents closed during the first teaching section.
Learn

1. What preliminary testing is actually for

It is not simply “doing the whole experiment once before the real one”.

💬 THINK / DISCUSS: what are you still uncertain about in your proposed method?

A useful preliminary test answers a design question

  • Will the proposed IV range produce measurable differences?
  • Can the chosen method obtain acceleration reliably?
  • Are the values too close together or too extreme?
  • Can the equipment resolve the changes?
  • Is the setup practical in the available lesson time?
  • Do any parts of the method need changing before full data collection?

The outcome is a decision

“Because my preliminary data showed ___, I kept / changed ___.”

The important idea is that preliminary evidence should later help justify the final plan. You are not writing that justification yet because you do not have the preliminary data yet.

Practise

2. Which preliminary idea is more useful?

Judge the purpose, not how complicated it sounds.

💬 THINK / DISCUSS: which plan would give information that could actually change the final method?

Plan A

Carry out the full intended experiment with every proposed incline and all repeats, then call it the preliminary.

Plan B

Test selected values and the proposed measurement method specifically to see whether the range and measurement approach are workable.

Better principle: preliminary testing should be targeted at uncertainties in the design.
Learn

3. Think like a measurement scientist

A method is not good merely because it produces numbers.

💬 THINK / DISCUSS: how would you know whether your proposed measurements are good enough to answer the research question?

Resolution

Can the equipment detect differences small enough to matter?

Repeatability

If the same condition is repeated, are the values reasonably consistent?

Validity

Does the setup actually isolate the effect of incline on the chosen measure of acceleration?

Prepare

4. Research ownership clinic

OCR requires the teacher to discuss the independently completed research with you.

👤 TEACHER CHECKPOINT: this is a conversation, not another form to fill in.

Be ready to explain aloud

  • What did you research?
  • How did you carry out the research?
  • Why did you use those research methods and sources?
  • Which source was most useful, and why?
  • What is your IV and how is it quantified?
  • What is your DV and how will it be obtained?
  • What research influenced your proposed method or range?
  • What numerical secondary data have you retained?
Ownership test: if a sentence, choice or piece of data is in your work, you should be able to explain where it came from and what it means.
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PHASE 2 • USE THE RESEARCH TRAIL ONLY TO FILL GAPS
Do not restart your research from scratch.
Research

5. Close genuine research gaps

Use the research clinic to identify what is missing.

🔎 WORK IN: RESEARCH TRAIL — only if needed. Add new sources only where you have a real gap in evidence.

Examples of genuine gaps

  • you cannot yet justify how acceleration will be measured;
  • you have no evidence to support a sensible IV range;
  • you have not retained any usable numerical secondary data;
  • a key scientific idea in your P1 research is based on a weak source.

Not a useful reason to keep researching

  • “I have not filled every row in the spreadsheet.”
  • “I want more websites to make it look researched.”
  • “I am avoiding making a decision.”
When the gap is fixed, stop researching.

Return to the website, then move into your Student Document for the final P1 check.

3
PHASE 3 • FINALISE P1 IN THE STUDENT DOCUMENT
Only after you can explain your research choices to your teacher.
Coursework

6. P1 readiness check

Use this as a checklist against your own work. Do not copy the checklist into your report.

📝 WORK IN: STUDENT DOCUMENT. Finish or refine the P1 section in the template you already have.

Your research question should now...

  • be based on Scenario 3;
  • contain one IV and one DV;
  • use a numerical IV across a suitable range;
  • lead to quantitative data for both variables;
  • indicate how the investigation will be performed;
  • be practical and safe enough to develop further.

Your research behind it should...

  • be independently completed;
  • be clearly referenced;
  • show how research informed the question and choices;
  • include relevant numerical data that can potentially be used later for M7;
  • be something you can explain confidently in conversation.
Preview

7. Task 2 is coming next — do not write it yet unless instructed

Today you only need to identify what preliminary testing must help you discover.

💬 THINK / DISCUSS: what is the biggest remaining uncertainty in your proposed investigation?

P3 later

You will need a full step-by-step plan and a separate preliminary-testing method.

M3 later

You will need to explain why you chose the preliminary method and range, and what information you expected it to provide.

D2 later

After preliminary data exist, you will explain decisions or modifications made because of those results — or account for why no modification was needed.

For now: be able to state the question your preliminary test needs to answer. Keep ownership of the actual design.
Finish

End of Research 3

You should now know exactly where you are in the process.

Ready

  • P1 research and research question are substantially complete.
  • I can explain my research choices to my teacher.
  • I have retained useful numerical secondary data.
  • I know what uncertainty preliminary testing needs to resolve.

Next step

Your teacher will tell you when to move from research into Task 2 planning and preliminary testing. Do not race ahead simply because the later criteria are visible in your template.