SCIENCE

INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT
University of the Philippines
Integrated School

_________
Name and Section

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Background

An investigatory project is a study of natural

phenomenon (scientific problem) and related possible
causes and effects involved in it. Furthermore, it is a
problem solving process that uses the experimental
method.

Most investigatory projects primarily involves the

following variables:

Independent Variable ( testing or manipulating)

It is the variable that you change each time that you did
the experiment. For example, if you were trying to
determine which type of battery lasts the longest, the
type of battery would be the independent variable
because it is the variable that you change when you did
the experiment.

Dependent Variable (measuring)

It is the variable that you measure as an effect of the

variable that you changed. The number of hours for
each type of battery would be the dependent variable.

Controlled Variable (constant)

It is the variable that you keep constant or the same so

as not to have an effect that will change the result of
your experiment.

For example, each time you test a laundry soap or a

detergent, you would make sure that each sample of
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dirty clothing had the same amount of dirt, so that if one
brand does a better job, you’ll know it wasn’t because
there was less dirt.

An investigatory project normally requires longer time of

observations to ensure that the results of the
investigation and/or experiment are reliable or valid.
One trial is not enough to come up with a reliable result.

Making an investigatory project takes a lot of hard work

and patience. As such, it is important that you choose
an appropriate topic that you are most inclined to for you
to work with.

GUIDE QUESTIONS:

 Is your topic interesting to your group, and to your

classmates?

 Is your topic important?

 Can your topic be done easily and conveniently?
(expense, time constraint, availability of materials,
hazardous)?

 Is your topic within the level of your knowledge and

skills?

 What particular situation in the community does your

topic relates to?
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 Will there be new information that can be generated
from your topic?

 Is your topic original?

After coming up with a topic that had been approved by
your teacher, then you may proceed with the phases of
the SIP.

Phases of Science Investigatory Project (SIP)

Phase A: The Proposal

Phase B: The Investigation

Phase C: The Written Output and Presentation of

Results

PHASE A: THE PROPOSAL

The proposal is a detailed written plan of how the

investigatory project will be done. It is like designing an
experiment. Since it is yet to be done, the future tense of
the verbs will be used.

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It contains the following parts:

I. PROBLEM
It is stated as a question.

II. TITLE
It is derived from the question but contains only key
words.

III. RATIONALE
It is the background of the problem. It answers the
following questions:
1. Why do you like to investigate that kind of
problem?
2. How did you arrive at that problem?

IV. MATERIALS
It provides a list of the thing needed to solve the problem.
The list may be in table form with the quantity of the
materials also indicated.

V. PROCEDURE
It is the orderly steps that are going to be done to solve
the problem.

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VI. IMPLICATION
Basically, this part answers the following questions:
1. In case your problem will be solved, what will
be its importance to the school or to the
community?
2. Will your findings benefit others?

VII. TIME TABLE

TARGET TEACHER’S
TASKS DATE DEADLINE

1. Submission of Problem and

Title
2. Writing the Proposal

3. Submission of the Proposal

4. Investigation Period

5. Submission of Gathered
Data
6. Writing the Report

7. Submission of the Written

Report
8.Preparing for Oral
Presentation
9. Oral Presentation

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10. Preparing for Exhibit

11. Exhibit

VIII.BUDGET
Consider the following questions for this part:
1. How much do the materials cost?
2. How much will your group spend for the
project?
3. How much will the contribution of each member
be?
4. Do your parents approve your budget?

IX. PROPONENTS:
The names of the members in the group appear here.

PHASE B: THE INVESTIGATION (DATA GATHERING)

As soon as the proposal is approved, you can start
investigating. Be reminded of the following:
1. Your procedure will be your guide in your
investigation.
2. Keep track of your observations by recording
them and arranging data in a table form.
3. Document your works by taking photos or
videos, etc.

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PHASE C: THE WRITTEN OUTPUT
After conducting the investigation, you are ready to
organize your data and present their findings.
Written report will be like presenting a recall of all the
things you did to solve the problem. It has been done
already therefore the verb is in past tense. It has the
following parts:
I. PROBLEM
II. TITLE
III. ABSTRACT
This part is a show window of your investigatory project.
At times people don’t have the time to read the entire
project at once therefore this can help them see what
your project is all about. It must contain a brief
explanation of the following:
1. Purpose of the Study
2. Procedure
3. Findings

IV. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This contains findings of other similar studies or
investigations.
V. METHODOLOGY
Parts of the proposal are combined here:
1. Materials
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 2. Procedure

VI. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This shows the data gathered, arranged and presented in
tables or graphs. You must thoroughly discuss the results
like explaining properly what do your data mean?

VII. CONCLUSION
This briefly states the immediate answer to the problem
or the findings.

VIII. RECOMMENDATION
You can ponder on this question: If others would be doing
your investigatory project, what would you advise them?

IX. REFERENCES

The list of works or articles appears here.

Sample:
How to Cite a Website

Structure:

Surname, First. M. (Year, Month Date Published). Article

title. Retrieved from URL on date
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Example:
Single author
Bonita, L. (2010, 5). Water volleyball. Retrieved on
August 31, 2016 from http://www.buzzle.com

Multiple authors
Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., &
Brizee, A. (2010, May 5). Citing references. Retrieved on
March 22, 2016 from
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01

X. RESEARCHERS
The names of the members in your group appears here.

XI. ADVISER
The name of your Science teacher appears here.

PRESENTATION OF RESULTS

THE ORAL PRESENTATION

You will present your work to a panel of judges.

THE EXHIBIT
It is a showcase of your investigatory project. It must be
presented in a way to catch the attention of people for
them to check your SIP out. The guidelines will late be
explained by the teacher.
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NOTES

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