Variables
What is an independent variable?
Something that changes in an experiment.
What is a hypothesis?
A statement made of what you think will happen in an experiment. (Educated guess)
Johnny observes a plant growing for 3 days. His data says:
Day 1 - 1 cm
Day 2 - 1 cm
Day 3 - 1 cm
What can you conclude from his observation?
The plant did not grow.
What tool is used to measure mass?
Balance
observation
Which variable does not change in a science experiment
control variable
What are the two types of science experiments?
observations and investigations using repeated experiment
How do scientists use a data table to help them make conclusions about an experiment?
They analyze the data for what it is saying. Looking at each value and comparing it to the others to find patterns to reason they hypothesis. What is actually happening in the experiment!
What tool is used for an observation?
hand lens or measuring tape
hand lens
What is the best use of a net?
a. keeping bugs separated from dirt
b. collecting animals living in a pond
b. collecting animals living in a pond
dependent variable
It depends on the independent variable of the person's age.
A scientist was thinking about how to show what they learned from their experiment. What step in the scientific method will the scientist share their findings?
The final step of communicating results.
This is very important for scientists to explain to others what they have discovered from their work.
When reading data in an experiment, scientists need to be careful of...
Not making opinions of the data. They need to only conclude exactly what the data is saying.
Ex of an opinion: The dog will never eat more than 1 lb at a time.
Facts: The amount of food the dog at varies by what time he ate the food.
Which metric unit is used for measuring liquid?
kilograms, milliliters, centimeters
milliliters
Why do scientists write reports about their investigations?
To communicate their results
Do tomatoes grow fastest under fluorescent, incandescent, or natural light?
Name the dependent and independent variables.
Dependent: The rate of growth of the tomato plan
Independent: The type of light the tomato plant is grown under
What part of the scientific method will scientists analyze?
Once the experiment is over, the scientist will analyze the results before communicating with others.
What does a line graph show?
Data over time
What is volume?
mass or liquid
liquid
Which is the missing step in the scientific method?
1. Question
2. Hypothesis
3. ?
4. Data
5. Analyze
6. Communicate
experiement
Name the dependent and independent variables:
How does phone use before bedtime affect sleep?
dependent:
independent:
1. make an observation
2. form a hypothesis
3. Experiment
4. Collect and analyze data
5. Draw conclusions
6. Communicate results
What is a data chart?
A table that is set up for collecting quantitative data
Which is the best tool for measuring force?
Spring scale
We are investigating the question of whether spider silk should be harvested for human use. You show it takes 82 people four hours to collect the spiders and ‘milk' the silk threads needed to make a piece of cloth big enough to cover a twin size bed. What conclusion can you draw about the investigation?
82 people is a lot of people working to only get a twin size bed size amount of thread in four hours. So it would not be a good idea to spend the time to harvest the spider silk for human use.