Does creativity matter?

[jh1047]

Hi, I'm Biology SL student and currently designing an experiment about yeast fermentation.

My teacher told us to do the lab by varying one of the factors affecting yeast fermentation.

But.... I mean, isn't it too simple? For example, I could just change the temperature of each dough by putting each of the the bowls or whatever in water bath, ice bath, room temp, etc and see the results. How to do that kind of experiment is like everywhere in the internet.

I've always been wondering if it's more important to invent a very creative lab which not others can think of (the results even can be unpredictable, too!), or it's just fine to do a very normal and predictable one as long as we write a very accurate and flawless report.

Thank you

[Guest Soiboist]

Focus in lab reports is on your ability to find a suitable research question, identify relevant variables (independent, dependent and controlled variables), develop a method that allows for the effective control of these variables, and ensure that the method allows for sufficient collection of data. All taken from IA criteria that can be found in Biology Subject Guide.

I would make the observation that a simple experiment allows you to more easily address the above points. Especially, since you are in standard level, demands from examiners to have a complex experiment are improbable. Nevertheless, one should ideally of course combine a rigorous experiment with a very well-written lab report. If thinking in terms of extremes, if you are too choose between a poorly written but difficult design lab and a well-written but simple design lab, you should always choose the latter. Creativity and academic ingenuity will impress examiners, but lack of them will not be a problem in normal lab reports.