Research design and poster plan
Open your materials, follow the steps, then turn in your work.
Design a C. elegans investigation and plan a research poster as a project team.
1. Open your materials
Use the materials named in the first step below. Open lesson resources.
2. Start the work
Review the components of a strong research question.
Show all 5 required steps
- Review the components of a strong research question.
- As a team, draft a testable question about C. elegans.
- Define your variables, controls, and target sample size.
- Outline the poster sections you will need.
- Assign each team member a poster responsibility.
Lost your place? Lost your place? Confirm your team has a testable question written (organism, variable, measurable outcome), then move to defining your variables, setting a target sample size, outlining poster sections, and assigning each person a poster job.
Check your work before submitting
- Team produces a testable question with defined variables.
- Poster plan assigns clear roles and sections.
Before lab work: read the safety rules
- Wear the required PPE, keep the bench clear, handle equipment only as directed, and know where the eyewash, sink, and spill kit are before you start.
- Human samples and data stay private: label with a code, never a name, and dispose of materials in the correct waste container, then wash your hands.
3. Turn in your work
DueCheck Schoology- Hand in
- Team research design plan: testable question, defined variables, target sample size, poster section outline, and assigned member roles.
How to submit and name your file
Use the submission route shown on today's today's page.
In Schoology, open your course and the assignment for this lesson. Attach your file, select Submit, and check that it appears in the submission.
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Check the section number beside Human Anatomy and Physiology in Schoology.
Assignment: Wk12 Pre-lab: Research design and poster plan
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How this lesson connects
Keep using what you learned last class: A controlled experiment changes one variable and holds the rest constant, so that any change in the result can be attributed to that single cause. Today: A testable question names the organism, variable, and outcome, so that the entire investigation produces data other scientists can interpret and compare.
Unit 2 guide: what to keep and use nextOptional: listen or watch a unit review▸
Need help? Warm-up, timing, and directions▸
💡 Big idea: A testable question names the organism, variable, and outcome, so that the entire investigation produces data other scientists can interpret and compare.
- 0-10Review: what makes a testable? (good vs. bad examples)
- 10-25Team drafts testable question; teacher circulates and provides feedback
- 25-42Define independent, dependent, and controlled variables; set target
- 42-58Outline poster sections: question, background, methods, results, conclusion
- 58-70Assign each team member one poster section; note responsibilities
- 70-80Share design plan with another team for quick feedback; submit plan
- • Scientists do not start experiments randomly; they start with a precise, testable question.
- • Today your team will write that question for your C. elegans investigation.
- • You will also plan your research poster so you know exactly what evidence you need to collect.
- • Good planning now means less confusion on lab day.
- • A testable question specifies the organism, variable, and measurable outcome.
- • A research poster communicates method, data, and conclusions in a standardized scientific format.
- • Team role assignment ensures accountability and mirrors how biomedical research teams operate.
PLTW connection and today's work
Find and complete the design-planning or team-project prompt in Problem 2.3.1 Toxic Relationships in myPLTW that corresponds to today's C. elegans investigation design; finish it after your team drafts the testable question.
Today's stopping point: Variables task is done; today the design-planning task should show complete.
PLTW activity titles identify the course connection. If your account will not open, use the posted materials for today and tell Mr. Mendoza. Do not mark an online activity complete unless you completed it.
Course connection
- Problem 2.3.1 Toxic Relationships
Use the turn-in directions at the top of this page. Do not create a second submission unless your teacher asks for one.
Show another explanation or a smaller first step
Need help? Choose a starting point
Finish the assigned lab safely before starting extra practice.
Lesson resources: reading, slides, and vocabulary▸
The deck carries the prior idea forward, lets you inspect an analogy, maps the rule to biology, and ends with the same evidence decision and exit ticket used on this page.
Generated from this lesson's canonical data with a red-team citation check.
A controlled experiment changes one variable and holds the rest constant, so that any change in the result can be attributed to that single cause.
A testable question names the organism, variable, and outcome, so that the entire investigation produces data other scientists can interpret and compare.
A research team lays out its question, variables, controls, sampling plan, measurement record, and analysis before deciding what the data support.
- Which variable is changed or compared?
- Which conditions and measurements must stay consistent?
- Which conclusion is inside the study's evidence boundary?
Define variables, controls, sampling, units, and the analysis plan before interpreting a result; analysis cannot repair biased or inconsistent measurement.
A well-organized classroom study can still be limited by , measurement quality, confounding, and the population represented.
- • Question and variable cards map to the study design.
- • Control and measurement cards map to fair, reproducible data collection.
- • The conclusion card maps to a bounded claim supported by the analysis.
Driving question: Can your team turn "do worms like sugar?" into a question specific enough that another team could run it and get comparable data?
What you already know: A controlled experiment changes one variable and holds the rest constant, so that any change in the result can be attributed to that single cause.
New idea: A testable question names the organism, variable, and outcome, so that the entire investigation produces data other scientists can interpret and compare.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for Research design and poster plan. Use it with E1-E3; it is a model or context image, not experimental or patient data. What to notice: Trace the labeled structure, movement, or system relationship that connects form to function.
- Observe or measure the relevant feature in today's lesson.
- Organize the observation with a stable evidence ID.
- Apply this rule: Define variables, controls, sampling, units, and the analysis plan before interpreting a result; analysis cannot repair biased or inconsistent measurement.
- Choose the option the evidence supports and state the limit of the conclusion.
Real biomedical example: Can your team turn "do worms like sugar?" into a question specific enough that another team could run it and get comparable data?
What the evidence supports: E1-E3 and F1 support the daily take-home when the response meets the stated success criteria.
What it cannot prove: The package does not support claims beyond this lesson's or any real patient diagnosis.
- • : A species, such as zebrafish or mouse, studied because its biology is similar enough to ours to teach us about human development and disease.
- • C. elegans: Use the lesson context and glossary entry to explain C. elegans in your own words.
- • : A that measures the presence, amount, or activity of a target substance such as a , , or chemical in a sample.
- • literature: The body of published research articles and reports on a topic that scientists read to learn what is already known before doing new work.
- • variable: Any factor in an experiment that can change or be changed, including what you test, what you measure, and what you hold steady.
- • control: The comparison condition that isolates the effect of the variable being tested by keeping everything else the same.
- • : The number of subjects or observations in a study; larger samples give more reliable results and reduce the role of chance.
Use it now: Choose one decision option. Cite E1 and E3, then explain how the rule connects the evidence to your choice.
Go further, optional: The source links below are optional enrichment. Every fact required for today's local evidence decision appears in this lesson package.
A planned study connects its question to defined variables, controls, sampling, measurement, and analysis so the resulting data can support a bounded and reproducible conclusion.
Limit: A statistical difference or trend does not automatically establish practical importance, causation, generalizability, or freedom from bias.
Define variables, controls, sampling, units, and the analysis plan before interpreting a result; analysis cannot repair biased or inconsistent measurement.
Limit: A well-organized classroom study can still be limited by , measurement quality, confounding, and the population represented.
Team produces a testable question with defined variables.
Limit: E3 defines the classroom product or success criterion. It is not independent scientific evidence and cannot justify a clinical or causal claim.
PLTW-HAP-2027-04-09 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: anatomy and physiology consultant
Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from today's lesson supports before submitting the pre-lab readiness record named on today's page.
- • Ask how many worms your team can actually run per condition, since decides whether the question is runnable.
- • Narrow the question to name the worm, the one variable you change, and the outcome measurement you will record.
- • Keep the question broad, like whether worms like sugar, because a bigger topic makes the poster more impressive.
Response: State one choice, cite at least two evidence IDs, explain the rule that connects them, and add one limitation. Submit it as the pre-lab readiness record.
Claim ceiling: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about today's lesson. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
Mean = sum of values / number of values. Median = middle ordered value. Range = maximum - minimum.
For 2, 4, 4, and 10: mean = 20 / 4 = 5, median = 4, and range = 10 - 2 = 8.
Mean, median, and range keep the measurement unit. Order the values before finding the median.
Calculate the requested summary for today's supplied values, then write what it reveals and what it hides.
- • The solution must address the stated need in today's lesson.
- • The decision must be supported by E1-E3.
- • The final product must make the success criteria visible.
- • Complete the work inside the 80-minute block.
- • Use only supplied or teacher-approved materials and evidence.
- • Do not trade , accessibility, or privacy for speed.
- • and evidence quality: must pass before scoring other criteria.
- • User need and effectiveness: highest scored criterion.
- • Time, cost, and ease of use: compare only after and effectiveness pass.
Test evidence: For each option, record the E1-E3 result that supports or fails each criterion. Do not assign a score without a named observation.
- Version or option tested
- Criterion met or missed
- Evidence ID and result
- Revision made
- Reason for the revision
- Need and user
- Criteria and constraints
- Chosen option and evidence
- Test result
- Revision and reason
Students often think Students often think a good is one that sounds impressive or covers a big topic.. The trap: Big and impressive is usually untestable. A strong question is narrow on purpose: it names the organism, the one variable you change, and the exact outcome you will measure, because that is what makes it runnable and comparable.
Testable question: Does increasing copper concentration in the water (0, 5, 10 ppm) decrease the movement speed of C. elegans measured as body bends per minute?
Variables:
- Independent: copper concentration (0, 5, 10 ppm).
- Dependent: body bends per minute.
- Controlled: temperature, food, worm age, dish size, timing.
Target sample size: at least 10 worms per concentration, 3 trials each, to make the average reliable.
Poster section outline: Title and question, Background, Methods, Data (table and graph), Conclusion, Sources.
Roles:
- Maria: Methods and data table.
- Sample teammate B: Background and sources.
- Sample teammate C: Graph and conclusion.
- Sample teammate D: Layout and title block.
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: A team research-design plan: a testable question about C. elegans, defined variables, a target sample size, a poster section outline, and assigned member roles.
- Identify the purpose, hazards, and required controls.
- Write the procedure in a usable order.
- Confirm materials, measurements, and waste handling before starting.
Keep the structure. Replace the question, facts, measurements, and evidence. Then recheck units, vocabulary, and whether the conclusion goes beyond the evidence.
Also due today: Submit your team design plan on Schoology.
- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning: make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure, the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities. Find it in Clever with your Microsoft sign-in, right next to Schoology.
Tap the speaker to hear a term. Add two of these to your notebook glossary with a definition and an example in your own words.
Pick just 2 or 3 words from today and make them yours: write what each one means in your own words, name the context clue or evidence that helped, then give one example from what you actually did in Research design and poster plan. Try your own words first; the glossary is there if you get stuck. This is voluntary and counts as extra credit, so keep it short.
Saved on this device. Show Mr. Mendoza or add these to your notebook glossary to claim the extra credit.
Hand-picked readings, videos, and interactives for this lesson, all free and from authoritative open organizations (NIH, CDC, OpenStax, Khan Academy, PhET, HHMI, and more).
A fillable, Cornell-style notebook for Unit 2: Research Ready. Type your notes, cues, and summaries right in the PDF, or print it and write by hand. Each lesson page has a cue column, a notes column, and a summary box, plus dated lab-record pages you can turn in.
HBS Unit 2 notebook: Research Ready Fillable PDFCornell notes + lab recordsOpenVetted readings and references for this unit. Use them to prepare, to catch up if you were absent, or to go deeper on today's target.
This site may ask you to verify you are human. If it blocks you on a school device, ask for the class copy.
Practice: try a question, then check your answer▸
Claim ceiling for this check: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about today's lesson. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
Turn this into a strong, testable research question about C. elegans: "Does the environment change worms?" Your version must name the organism, the variable you change, and what you will measure.
Write an answer and pick a confidence to unlock the key.
Fast retrieval with instant answers, not the commit-then-reveal check above. Try each from memory first: write what you remember about the earlier units, then check yourself here.
Missed class or ready for more?▸
I can name the procedure's purpose and the evidence I will record. I can state today's specific hazards and the control for each. If this deck does not name them, I ask Mr. Mendoza before I touch anything. My data table is ready before materials are handled.
Finish the checklist before you handle any material.
- • Wear the required PPE, keep the bench clear, handle equipment only as directed, and know where the eyewash, sink, and spill kit are before you start.
- • Human samples and data stay private: label with a code, never a name, and dispose of materials in the correct waste container, then wash your hands.
- 1Before materials are handled, identify the purpose, variables or comparison, controls, measurement units, and stop-work condition.
- 2Review the components of a strong research question.
- 3As a team, draft a testable question about C. elegans.
- 4Define your variables, controls, and target sample size.
- 5Outline the poster sections you will need.
- 6Assign each team member a poster responsibility.
- 7Record each result in the prepared table before interpreting it. Mark missing, repeated, or invalid results truthfully.
- 8Complete the named cleanup and waste route, remove PPE safely, wash hands when required, and confirm the station is ready for the next group.
| Trial or sample ID | Independent condition | Measured result with units | Observation before interpretation | Quality-control note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Before the procedure, predict the result and cite the rule behind the prediction.
After the procedure, compare the result with the prediction and name one limitation or source of uncertainty.
What today's skills lead to. These are real health-science careers this course builds toward. Tap one to see, on the US Department of Labor's O*NET site, what the job actually involves, what it pays, and how fast it is growing.
Why zebrafish and mice model human development, and the Atit lab's work.
Goes with: Why zebrafish and mice: animal models and the Atit lab
Use to see how IRF6's 3D shape lets it do its job.
Goes with: AlphaFold and UniProt: structure tells function
With your team, finalize a , variables, and a poster section outline with assigned roles.
HHMI BioInteractive (preview; use assigned fallback if blocked)Use the submission route shown on today's today's page.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
Khan Academy: The science of biology (experimental design)You've passed Unit 2, so the optional extra-credit track is open. Complete reserved-unit work from home, including virtual labs, for extra credit. Each item shows its correct submission route.
Open the extra-credit track- CompleteEvery required part of the artifact is present, nothing left blank.
- AccurateThe science and the data are correct and match the evidence.
- Scientific reasoningYou explain your claim with evidence and reasoning (CER), not just an answer.
- Professional communicationClear, organized, labeled, and written the way a clinician or scientist would.
- SubmittedGo to Schoology to turn this in. Submit one PDF. Put your first and last name in the document header. Name the file: FirstName LastName - Assignment Title - YYYY-MM-DD.pdf. If you cannot get in, see Mr. Mendoza. Do not skip the work.
- Error analysis and method · counts doubleName a specific limit of the method and how it moved your result, and compare what you predicted to what happened. "Human error" does not count; say what about the procedure or instrument caused it.
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