Full speed ahead
Is a person's reaction time affected by their age?
Ask a teacher or a parent to help you choose who should take part in this investigation.
Do not approach strangers and do not go into houses of people you do not know well.
PLAN
Design a simple test of reaction time.
Ask people of different ages to take part in the test.
How many people?
What data will you collect?
I WILL NEED
Paper and pencil.
I MAY NEED
Stopwatch.
FAIR TEST
Make sure that you carry out the test in exactly the same way every time.
PREDICTION
Do you think older people will react faster or slower than someone your age?
Do you think young children will react faster or slower than someone your age?
Which age group do you think will have the best reactions?
PRACTICAL ACTIVITY
What reaction-time test did you use?
Who did you ask to take part?
What did you notice?
What data did you record?
Did you encounter any problems?
What did you do to overcome these?
COLLECT
DATA
Reaction times.
Don't forget to ask people their age!
Record clearly and neatly.
ANALYSE
DATA
What is the best way to set out your data so that you can see if there is a pattern?
Would a graph be useful?
What about placing results in order?
PRESENT
FINDINGS
What is the best way to show what you did?
Is it possible to give a demonstration?
What is the best way to show your data and your findings?
EVALUATE
INVESTIGATION
Are your results reliable?
If someone else was going to carry out this investigation, what tips or advice would you give them?
If you have carried out this investigation, click the icon to send in your results to Brainboxx and we may publish your work on the website. It is best to e-mail the results of your investigation or you may need to send them by post. Make sure you get permission from a teacher, parent or other adult before you get in touch.
Dotty!
Strike!
Boxes!