Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My son (9th grade) wants to do a computer science project. The program would input a students schedule, and then using a school map and Dijkstra or A* determine the optimal route for the student to take through the school. My question is as follows: What would the Hypothesis, Independent and Dependent variables be for something like this? It's not an experiment, really ...

Thanks for your assistance.

Hi Bpelakh - It sounds like your son will be working on a project that falls under the Engineering Method rather than the Scientific Method. Has he cleared this project with the teacher?

This page on the Science Buddies site outlines the steps of the Engineering Method and some of the ways it differs from the Scientific Method. As you'll see, some of the things you would normally identify in an experimental procedure don't come into play in the same way:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ring.shtml

I hope this helps get him started!

Amy
Science Buddies