Choosing a Question
Group students into teams of two or three, and have them outline four or five possible investigations and methods for collecting data. Suggest that groups refer to their physics texts and the Concord Probe Sight* Web site, which has "sensor suggestions" for investigations using the different types of probeware.

Meet back in the large group and have teams describe their ideas for investigations. Try to narrow the investigations to the most feasible ones, and strive for a range of experiments and data collection methods. Next, explain the steps for designing an experiment, and go over the planning guide. (If time permits, have students follow these guidelines to write a lab report.) Discuss project requirements described in the assessment rubric. Give the students the project schedule and dates for final presentations.

Have groups narrow their focus to one investigation and refine their experimental design. Meet with each team to discuss methods and safety, and plan for additional devices they may need to carry out the investigation. (For example, students wondering about the pressure at the bottom of a school swimming pool might engineer a device that would drop a length of rubber tubing to the bottom of the swimming pool while remaining connected to the pressure sensor and interfacing equipment.)

Collecting and Analyzing Data
Demonstrate data collection procedures. Show how to analyze data using software on the handheld devices, or by uploading to a spreadsheet program. Discuss methods of analysis and help students decide which processes to use. Go over expectations for recording their processes and data in a science log. Give students time to practice using their sensors before they conduct their experiment. Show students how to use digital still or video cameras to record different phases of their project.

Set aside several periods for students to complete their investigations. It is likely that they will adjust their experimental design along the way. Stress the importance of using the science log to record variables, data, and adjustments in the experimental design.

Presenting Research Findings
Give students time to create a presentation supported by multimedia. At a minimum, the presentation should cover their initial question, data collection procedures, an explanation of how their sensor works, and a conclusion. As students make presentations, assess their work using the assessment rubric.

Prerequisite Skills
Before students begin their independent projects they need to know:

	Basic principles of experimental design
	How to operate lab interfacing equipment
	Data analysis
	How to create a spreadsheet and make charts and graphs
	How to use presentation software

Differentiated Instruction

	Resource Student As students work in pairs or small groups, establish rules so all students participate. Provide step-by-step instructions.
	Gifted Student Encourage able students to pursue investigations that are more complicated. They may also be able to make more difficult statistical calculations.
	English Language Learner (ELL) Pair students with students who share a common language of origin but who have greater English proficiency.

Assessment Processes:
Use the assessment rubric to evaluate student's science learning, presentation skills and participation.

Credits
Shelly Nash is a high school physics teacher at Sioux City West High School in Sioux City, Iowa. Nash's classroom was featured in An Innovation Odyssey, a collection of stories of technology in the classroom, Story 95: Plunging into Physics.