Portfolios are collections of work that can be used to keep track of your progress on your project. Below are examples of sections you can include in your portfolio. Each section has a worksheet that you can print out and use.

1. Focus Question

Write out your focus question and any hypotheses you may have relating to your research. (You can also discuss how you arrived at your focus question and any alternative questions you may have considered.)

2. Relevant Information and Concepts

Create a visual map--grouping your ideas and finding connections between idea groups. [worksheet 2]

3. Research Plan

Describe your experiment in detail, step by step. The design description should be clear enough to be replicated. [worksheet 3]

4. Data & Analysis

Organize and summarize the data you collect, including lists, graphs, and/or descriptions of data (written or drawn). Discuss any trends you find, errors you might have made, etc. [worksheet 4]

5. Conclusions

Discuss your conclusions or answer(s) to your focus question and any larger implications of your conclusions. Discuss alternative explanations for your results. [worksheet 5]

6. Communication of Results

Your final report should represent and communicate all the work you accomplished on your project, from start to finish. [worksheet 6]