Field studies - Biological or geological investigation
Mise à jour le 25/03/2008
Par Caroline Prevot
• Objectives :
Develop scientific investigative skills and attitudes
Step 1: Making observations: study sites and organisms
- Site location and features...
- Why that site was chosen?
- Species, landscapes involved...
Step 2: Asking questions
- The observations lead to the formation of questions about the system being studied
- What are your main interests (e.g. physical, organisms, human)?
- What angle could your study take (an issue, comparison with theory, etc.)?
- How accessible is the study location (dependant on location & number of visits)?
- The enquiry must be feasible for study.
Step 3: Developing a strategy
- Choosing your topic and a series of sub-divided questions to give the enquiry a clear focus.
- You'll need background research, reference to text books, journals etc...
- Generating a hypothesis (or a few hypotheses ) to test through your fieldwork and making predictions ...
- A list of the data sources (How easy will it be to collect reliable data in the time scale available?)
- Details of the study location with a suitable map should be given.
- A plan showing the links between the different stages of the enquiry should be drawn up.
Step 4: Data collection
- Types, method used, when, how record them
- Measuring device(s) you will use...
- Planning an investigation
- Designing your equipment
Step 5: Data analysis
- Recording results
- Tables, graphs, statistical tests, pictures, drawings, mapping...
Step 6: Write a report of your work and an evaluation
