Finding the Control Group
The value that scientists vary in the experiment.
What is manipulated/independent variable.
Is the thing that you intend to measure after the trial.
What is dependent/respondent variable.
These must stay the same between the trials.
What is control variables.
The first step of the scientific method.
What is make an observation.
You decide you want to compare which music makes you fall asleep faster. Week 1 you listen to rock music. Week 2 you listen to country music. Week 3 you listen to classical music. Week 4 you listen to no music.
What is week 4 (no music)
The IV when asking if the size of fish is affected by the depth of the ocean they live
What is depth of ocean?
The dependent variable (DV) when A group of scientists test the whether the time spent in the sunlight during the day affect how long it takes them to fall asleep at night.
What is the time spent in the sunlight during the day?
For the experiment to be valid, this is one of the things that must stay the same if you are testing if different amount of light affect plant growth.
What is soil, fertilizer, type of plants, amount of water, or time of test?
The if...then statement that is testable.
What is a hypothesis.
Bart believes that mice exposed to radio waves will become extra strong. He has two groups of ten mice. He places group A near a radio for 5 hours. Group B that had not been exposed to radio waves. To test the hypothesis he placed a wood block to block the door to the mice food. After 5 hours he found that 8 out of 10 of Group A mice were able to push the block away. 7 out of 10 of Group B mice were able to do the same.
What is group B
The DV for the question "Is photosynthesis production of starch faster when plants are exposed to different amounts of light?"
What is amount of starch produced?
The DV for this scenario: "Children who entered kindergarten at age 5 were compared with children who entered kindergarten at age 6 on measures of academic achievement taken at grade 5. Results indicate that children who entered kindergarten at age 6 scored higher on standardized tests than those kids that entered at age 5."
What is score on standardized test.
One of the controlled variables in this experiment: "You want to see if students do better on a test if they study with music. You divide up one class into 2 groups of 15 students. Group A listens to music while studying their notes for 1 hour a night. Group B studies their notes with no music for 1 hour a night. After two weeks, a comprehension test was given to all students after they had studied their notes in silence or with music turned on."
What is two week duration, 1 hour a night of study, 2 groups of 15 students, or the test that they take?
The part of the scientific method where data is collected.
What is the experiment (or trial)?
Pea plant clones are giving different amounts of water for three-week period. The first pea plant receives 400 milliliters a day. The second pea plant receives 200 milliliters a day. The third pea plant receives 100 milliliters a day. The fourth pea plant does not receive any extra water: the plant only receives natural ways of receiving water. The heights of the pea plants are recorded daily.
What is the fourth pea plant (with no water).
The responding variable for the hypothesis "Spending time with a pet animal decreases the amount of stress right before taking a test."
What is the amount of stress.
The DV for this study: A researcher wants to investigate the types of social behavior that develops in children in day care depending on the amount of time the child spend in day care.
What is social behavior in children?
One of the control variables for this study: "One tank of gold fish is fed the normal amount of food once a day. A second tank is fed twice a day. A third tank is fed four times a day during a six week study. The fish’s weight is recorded daily."
What is 3 tanks of goldfish, 6 week study, or weight recorded daily.
When multiple experiments have been conducted, data is analyzed and the results are shared with others in these.
What is scientific journals/reports/community.
This has one control group, one independent variable, one dependent variable, and control variables.
What is proper experimental design.
The manipulated variable for the following study, "Students at a University were split into two groups and each received a different text for a philosophy course. Once group received a traditional text book, while the other received an interactive textbook on a tablet computer. After the course, the final exam marks between the two groups of students was compared."
What is media type of textbook.
The Control Group for this study: Three redwood trees are kept at different humidity levels inside a greenhouse for 12 weeks. One tree is left outside in normal conditions. The heights of the trees are measured once a week.
What is the one tree that is left outside?
In order for a experiment to be valid and develop credible data, this is needed.
What is a control group?
This is a carefully thought-out explanation for observations of the natural world that has been constructed using the scientific method, and which brings together many facts and hypotheses
What is a scientific theory?