Required Investigations and Lab Skills

What Is Public and What Is Not

NYSED's public guidance says successful completion of the required Physical Science: Physics investigations is required for admission to the Regents exam. The definition of successful completion is local, and investigation scores are not reported to the State or included in the final Regents score.

The public memo also says the investigation packets are intended for New York State teachers and cannot be posted or released publicly. A study guide should not reproduce hidden directions, answer packets, or scoring rubrics. The safe focus is the public topic list and the lab reasoning those topics require.

The Three Required Physics Investigations

The May 2025 public memo names these Physical Science: Physics investigations and primary Performance Expectations:

These titles do not mean the written test will ask you to repeat a specific classroom setup. NYSED's educator guide says about 15 percent of written-test questions measure content related to the PEs measured by the investigations, not the specific investigation tasks themselves.

Lab Skills Behind the Titles

For induction, focus on the cause-and-effect link between electric current, magnetic fields, and changing magnetic conditions. A Regents cluster might ask which observation supports a magnetic-field model, which variable should be changed, or why a compass or meter reading counts as evidence.

For energy conversion and efficiency, focus on input, useful output, nonuseful transfers, and the reason efficiency is less than 100 percent in ordinary devices. A design that maximizes output under the same constraints should be justified with measured output energy or power, not appearance or preference.

For thermal energy and calorimetry, focus on system boundaries and temperature evidence. The reference-table relationship Q = mc delta T applies when thermal energy transfer changes temperature. In an ideal insulated system, energy lost by hotter matter equals energy gained by cooler matter, but real investigations require attention to losses and measurement limits.

Variables and Controls

Every investigation has an independent variable, a dependent variable, and controlled variables. The independent variable is deliberately changed. The dependent variable is measured. Controlled variables are kept the same so the outcome can be attributed to the independent variable.

Use this quick lab audit:

• What single factor is being changed?
• What outcome is being measured?
• What conditions must stay constant for a fair test?
• Are trials repeated under the same conditions?
• Are units, tools, and timing procedures clear?

If two important factors change at once, the evidence cannot isolate a cause. For example, changing both coil turns and magnet speed would not show which factor caused a change in induced current.

Measurement Quality

Good lab answers recognize uncertainty without becoming vague. Random uncertainty appears as trial-to-trial scatter and can be reduced by repeating measurements and averaging. Systematic error shifts all measurements in a similar way and requires a method correction, such as zeroing a meter or checking a sensor calibration.

Precision depends on the instrument and scale. A thermometer, stopwatch, ruler, ammeter, voltmeter, motion sensor, or balance must be read with sensible units. In a constructed response, give a final claim that matches the precision of the data rather than copying an unreasonable number of calculator digits.

Studying From Allowed Materials

Students can review their own class notes, teacher-returned feedback, and any copy of their student answer packet that the school provides for exam preparation. They should also practice with public sources: the educator guide, the 2025 Physics Reference Tables, and the public sample clusters.

Turn each lab into transferable questions. What variable did the group change? What evidence showed a field, transfer, or energy conversion? What graph feature mattered? What model from the reference tables explained the measurements? Those questions prepare you for new Regents clusters without exposing secure materials.

From Lab Notebook to Regents Response

A strong lab-based constructed response has the same structure as a strong investigation record. It names the claim, identifies the data that support it, and explains the model. It also respects the limits of the evidence.

Useful sentence frames:

• The changed variable was ___, and the measured outcome was ___.
• The data support ___ because ___ stayed constant while ___ changed.
• Repeated trials would improve reliability because ___.
• The claim is limited because only ___ trials were performed.
• The system boundary includes ___, so energy transferred to ___ must be counted.

What Not To Do

Do not memorize rumored lab steps. Do not use unreleased investigation materials from unofficial uploads. Do not claim that completion of the investigations adds points to the Regents score. Do not assume the written exam asks for the classroom answer packet.

The exam can assess the same science practices: planning an investigation, interpreting data, using models, arguing from evidence, and communicating technical information. If you can explain variables, controls, uncertainty, system boundaries, and the physics model in a new context, you are preparing for the right target.