2023 IA Background Research

Internal Assessment Background Research
Estimated completion time: 2 hours. Do not rush this task. You will need to include thoughtful, detailed, and
accurate contextual information in your Internal Assessment. If you rush this task, you will be wasting your
time and need to complete it again anyway. Do a thorough, good job in the first place.
Before completing this task:

Be sure your project has been approved and is noted on this list. If you do not have an approved project, you
must first complete the problem question selection task.
You must do some background research from reliable, scientific resources. You are expected to include
scholarly research resources; writing based on original research or experimentation. Scholarly research is
usually published in research journals and is highly respected because the writing had to be peer-reviewed by
experts in the same field before publication. Some possible free, open access resources are:
● Directory of Open Access Journals ● Public Library of Science

● Google Scholar ● Science Direct
● Infotopia ● Wiley Online Library
● Medline ● OAIster
● National Science Digital Library ● WorldCat
You will need to provide citations for your background research, inclusive of in text citations and a works cited
list. This page provides a thorough overview of how to use MLA to cite your sources, including those from
articles, webpages and social media. You can also use tools such as the EasyBib citation generator.
To complete your background research, create a document in which you address the following eight tasks.
The more thorough and detailed you are in your answers during this step, the easier the compilation of your
final paper will be!
1. Problem Question: Write your problem question. It must clearly include a biological manipulated
and/or responding variable and be focused on your very specific manipulated and responding variables.
Good formats are:
○ “What is the effect of ___manipulated variable___ on ___responding variable____. “
○ “What is the relationship between _variable one_______ and _variable two_______.”
○ “Is there a significant difference in ___responding variable____ between __manipulated

variable___.”
2. Search Terms: List at least three specific search terms for which you searched in reliable, scientific
resources. Your search terms should relate to the manipulated variable, responding variable, relevant
organism or biological process you will investigate.
For each question, 3-7, write a 5-7 sentence paragraph that answers the provided prompts. Include in-text
citations for reliable, scientific resources as appropriate.
3. Biological Process(es) Being Investigated: What is the process being investigated in the IA? Where
does it occur? When does it occur? Why does it occur? How does it occur?
○ For example: imbibition and germination
4. Type of organism or biologically relevant molecule being studied: What is the scientific name
(Genus species if relevant)? Summarize relevant structural or functional characteristics of the organism
or biologically relevant molecule. Why is this organism/molecule good for investigating the biological
process described above? How should the organism/molecules be safely and ethically handled?
○ For example: Brassicaceae seeds
5. Manipulated Variable (or correlation variable #1): What is being manipulated in the investigation?
What role does the variable play in the biological process being investigated? How can the variable be
safely and ethically manipulated?
○ For example: water volume
6. Responding Variable (or correlation variable #2): What is being measured in the investigation?
What function does the variable play in the biological process being investigated? How can the
variable be safely and ethically observed and recorded?
○ For example: germination success rate
7. Expectations: How has this topic been studied in the past? What is already known about the
relationship between the variables? Why would these variables have a relationship? What have other
similar investigations found? Given the research you have done, what is your hypothesis and/or
prediction?
8. Works Cited List: create an MLA formatted works cited list with at least 5 reliable, scientific sources
included.
Please set the share settings of your document to “anyone with the link can edit.” This will allow Ms.Mattfeld
to view and comment on your work. Share a link of your background doc to ManageBac
What’s Next?
The next task, as we baby-step our way through the Internal Assessment, will be to propose your methods and
techniques, acquiring materials, and beginning data collection.

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Internal Assessment Background Research

Before completing this task:

● Directory of Open Access Journals ● Public Library of Science

○ “What is the effect of _manipulated variable_ on _responding variable__. “

○ “What is the relationship between _variable one_______ and _variable two_______.”

○ “Is there a significant difference in _responding variable between manipulated

○ For example: imbibition and germination

○ For example: Brassicaceae seeds

○ For example: water volume

○ For example: germination success rate

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