VCE Physics practical investigation structure quiz

Bound 30-page laboratory journal submitted with the logbook to VCAA

Timed oral presentation delivered to the class and teacher only

Scientific poster in a layout set by VCAA, with logbook entries assessed alongside it

Spreadsheet of raw data with no written analysis required

Is deliberately broad and unbounded so that almost any result can count as a success for the report

Asks an open prompt such as 'why is physics interesting' with no variable to measure

Cannot be answered with the equipment available in a school laboratory setting

Identifies an independent variable, a dependent variable, and a measurable relationship

Repeating measurements and taking the mean, increasing precision

Recalibrating the instrument against a known reference standard before use

Switching to a less precise instrument so the readings scatter less widely

Quietly ignoring any outliers in the data set without giving a justification

Average out to zero whenever a sufficiently large number of repeat trials are taken and the mean is then calculated

Shift all measurements by the same amount and are detected by calibration or a comparison method

Are caused only by the experimenter rushing or misreading the scale during a trial

Do not affect accuracy because they leave the true value of the quantity unchanged

$1$ mm (the full smallest scale division on the ruler)

$1$ m (the full length of a standard metre ruler)

$0.5$ mm (half the smallest division)

Zero, because rulers give an exact reading

$\Delta x + \Delta y$ (sum of the absolute uncertainties in the two measurements)

$\Delta x - \Delta y$ (difference of the absolute uncertainties of the factors)

$\Delta x \cdot \Delta y$ (the product of the two absolute uncertainties)

$\frac{\Delta x}{x} + \frac{\Delta y}{y}$ (sum of percentage uncertainties)

Linearisation provides a clear gradient/intercept with associated uncertainty, often relating directly to a physical constant

It simply looks neater and tidier on the poster, which is in fact the only reason that VCAA happens to prefer a straight-line graph over any curve

Curved trend lines are not permitted under the VCAA assessment rules for the practical investigation poster

Graphing software is unable to fit curves to experimental data, so a straight line must always be used instead

Strong because clearly stating the direction of the trend is what top-band conclusions require

Weak because it lacks quantitative claim, uncertainty, and reference to theory

All that is needed, since the assessors only check that a trend was identified at all

Too quantitative, because a good conclusion should avoid numbers and stay descriptive

Limitations are always small effects that can safely be left out of the discussion section

Limitations apply only to the raw data collected, while uncertainties apply only to the measuring apparatus that was used

Limitations are wider design/method constraints; uncertainties are quantitative errors in measurements

There is no real difference between them, so either word can be used for the same idea

We did an experiment in the laboratory over several lessons, and we found it really interesting and learned a lot of new things about physics that we did not know before we started this whole task.

Science is fun, and everyone in our class really enjoyed doing this practical task together over the term, because experiments are such a great way to spend lesson time and they genuinely help make the whole subject feel exciting, hands-on and worthwhile overall.

Physics is about motion and forces and energy, and this poster is going to describe everything that we did during the many weeks that we spent working hard on our practical investigation for this unit.

This investigation tests how (independent variable) affects (dependent variable). Theory predicts (relationship). Measurements with (apparatus) over (range) yielded (key result), consistent/inconsistent with theory within stated uncertainty.