RECIPE FOR SCIENTISTS

SPONTANEOUS SCIENCE 2012 STEP 1: PRACTICAL SKILLS

smart, enthusiastic students some background knowledge space & equipment for the work mentors to help when needed project idea: simple but lots of possibilities

DIRECTIONS
Prepare the work environment with the correct equipment and supplies. Start with a project that has an obvious research pathway. Add the students to this environment, giving them new skills at regular intervals. IMPORTANT: must give the students time to practice these skills with and without mentors. At this point, the project is guided but students should be acquiring the skills to become independent.

WE HAVE THE SMART, ENTHUSIASTIC STUDENTS READY TO START RESEARCH. IN 2011, THE STUDENTS MET WITH THE PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA AND THE PREMIER OF BC. STEP 2: GATHER INITIAL DATA
curious and meticulous students good documentation practice reliable skills for repeat measurements mentors to help when needed This is a required step so that students learn to troubleshoot protocols when things arent perfect. It also allows students to practice proper lab notebook practices. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP.

DIRECTIONS
Students use their new skills to collect data on the guided project.

RECIPE FOR SCIENTISTS

SPONTANEOUS SCIENCE 2012 STEP 3: ANALYSIS & LIT REVIEW
students with data simple analysis literature searches mentors to help when needed NOTE: you may need to do an additional step: how to read a paper. Students perform independent literature review. Is there similar data published? Does the collected data replicate previous ndings?

DIRECTIONS
Students analyze the collected data. Are there trends and/or interesting outliers?

STEP 4: NEW QUESTIONS

motivated students organized literature search understanding of techniques budget constraints mentors to help when needed

DIRECTIONS
Using their known techniques, students determine if there are other questions to be asked. Research questions should give knowledge independent of results. The proposed experiments should use established techniques and t within budget.

STEP 5: EXPERIMENTS
new research questions appropriate techniques timeline for results proper documentation mentors to help when needed

DIRECTIONS
Students should repeat step 2, properly documenting their results. It is important to be objective. Provide enough time for the experiment to mature. Steps 2 through 5 will be repeated as required.