The document provides guidance on writing the materials and procedures sections of an experiment. It explains that the materials section should list all items needed for the experiment using metric units, and that a chart format is helpful. The procedures section should outline each step using verbs and include specific materials, amounts, and how to measure and record data. An example materials and procedures section is then provided for an experiment to study the effect of temperature on triop lifespan.

1. Materials & Procedures
How to…

2. Materials
• Think of it as the ingredients to a recipe.
• List EVERYTHING that you need to complete your
experiment
• Items to include:
– How many (quantity)
– How much or what size (metric)
• METRIC: Grams, Liters, Meters, m2, m3, cc, g/m3, g/mL,
km/hr, m/s, hours, minutes, seconds, Celsius
– Don’t forget: KHDBDCM
• Absolutely NO: Miles, Yards, Feet, inches, Fahrenheit,
Gallons, pints, cups, teaspoons, pounds, ounces, m/hr
– Description of each item
– Don’t forget what tools/equipment you will use.

3. It may help to do your materials
in a chart
#
needed
Size/
amount Item description
3 10mL Measuring cups
1 2L Bottle of Spring water

4. Materials Example
• (1) Triop Hatchery kit containing 80 eggs
• (3) 1L clear plastic critter keeper aquariums
• (4) 1L bottles of spring water
• (3) 10w Critter Keeper underwater heaters
• 90 mL powdered Tetra Max fish food
• (1) 1mL measuring spoon
• (3) stick-on thermometers
• (1) 1mL plastic pipette
• (1) permanent marker, black
• (1) Ruler
• (1) Digital Camera

5. Procedures
• Think of the steps in a recipe
• Number each step
• Each step should start with a verb
– measure, pour, drop, cover, mix, spread, bury, plant, record,
cut, stir, shake, weigh, wash, rinse, throw, swing, move, tilt,
give, repeat…
• Include specific materials & amounts
• Don’t forget to include how to measure/record the
Dependent Variable
• If your project occurs over a period of time, be sure
to include the time span
• Add a step to repeat steps 1-? (at least 3 times)
• 3rd person (no: I, me, my, you, us, we, our…)

6. Procedures
1. Following the directions on the Triop Hatchery Kit, hatch 30 eggs.
2. Let eggs sit for 24hrs
3. While the eggs are hatching, fill the 3 aquariums with 1L of bottled water each.
4. Attach 1 thermometer to the bottom right corner on the outside of each aquarium
5. Place 1 heater 2cm below the surface in each aquarium
6. Set the 1st heater to 28°C
7. Label the aquarium “28°C” with the china marker
8. Repeat steps 6 & 7 with the other 2 aquariums setting the heaters to 30°C and
32°C respectively
9. Place tanks on the window sill, plug in heaters and allow to stabilize for at least 4
hrs.
10. Using the pipette, carefully siphon 10 triops from the hatchery
11. Release the 10 triops into the 1st tank
12. Repeat steps 10 & 11 with the other 2 tanks respectively
13. Mark the top of the water line on the outside of each tank with the china marker,
this will be the “top off” mark
14. Photograph each tank
15. Record the number of triops in each of the different temperature aquariums in the
data table
16. Each day at 3pm photograph each aquarium and record the number of triops in
each aquarium in the data chart
17. Each day at 4pm using the pipette and the 4th bottle of water, slowly add water to
each aquarium until the water level reaches the “top off” line.
18. Each day after topping off, feed 1mL of crushed fish food to each aquarium using
the measuring spoon

7. Materials & Procedures
• Problem Statement
• Hypothesis
• Materials
•
•
• Procedures
1.
2.
3.

8. Materials & ProceduresProblem Statement: Does temperature affect the lifespan of triops?
Hypothesis: If the temperature is warmer (32°C) then the lifespan of the triops will be shorter than the lifespan of the the
triops in the cooler (30°C & 28°C) water.
Materials:
• 1 Triop Hatchery kit containing 80 eggs 1 1mL measuring spoon
• 3 1L clear plastic critter keeper aquariums 3 stick-on thermometers
• 4 1L bottles of spring water 1 1mL plastic pipette
• 3 10w Critter Keeper underwater heaters 1 china marker, black
• 90mL powdered Tetra Max fish food Ruler
• Camera
Procedures
1. Following the directions on the Triop Hatchery Kit, hatch 30 eggs.
2. Let eggs sit for 24hrs
3. While the eggs are hatching, fill the 3 aquariums with 1L of bottled water each.
4. Attach 1 thermometer to the bottom right corner on the outside of each aquarium
5. Place 1 heater 2cm below the surface in each aquarium
6. Set the 1st heater to 28°C
7. Label the aquarium “28°C” with the china marker
8. Repeat steps 6 & 7 with the other 2 aquariums setting the heaters to 30°C and 32°C respectively
9. Place tanks on the window sill, plug in heaters and allow to stabilize for at least 4 hrs.
10. Using the pipette, carefully siphon 10 triops from the hatchery
11. Release the 10 triops into the 1st tank
12. Repeat steps 10 & 11 with the other 2 tanks respectively
13. Mark the top of the water line on the outside of each tank with the china marker, this will be the “top off” mark
14. Photograph each tank
15. Record the number of triops in each of the different temperature aquariums in the data table
16. Each day at 3pm photograph each aquarium and record the number of triops in each aquarium in the data chart
17. Each day at 4pm using the pipette and the 4th bottle of water, slowly add water to each aquarium until the water level
reaches the “top off” line.
18. Each day after topping off, feed 1mL of crushed fish food to each aquarium using the measuring spoon
19. Continue to photograph & record the triop population in each aquarium for 30 days

9. Metric Units: (www.metric-conversions.org)
English units
(do not use):
Metric Units
(use these instead):
gallons, cups, tablespoons,
teaspoons, pints
liters (L), milliliters (mL)
inches (in), feet (ft), miles
(mi), yards
centimeters (cm), meters
(m), kilometers (km)
pounds (lbs), ounces (oz)
Kilograms (kg), grams (g),
milligrams (mg)
Degrees Fahrenheit (F) Degrees Celsius (C)