Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am currently finishing up my science fair project, but i have a problem. One of my carbonated water plants got damaged at 1 point in my project and all the carbonated water dried out/leaked. My project is due tomorrow, what should i do.

Hi Maziar,

For your write up, you mention that you included this sample as part of your experiment, but you don't include the results in your results table, or consider the results a valid part of your project. Scientists always discard results for samples that are damaged, spilled, or otherwise invalid. As part of your conclusion, however, you could mention that to avoid the effect of a sample like this, it would be helpful to include duplicate or triplicate samples in the experimental design. If you did include duplicate plants for each data point, then you can exclude the dried out plant, and just include the results of the replicate that survived.

I hope this helps! Good luck at the science fair.

Donna Hardy