Dependent and Independent Variables,Control and Experimental Groups

IDENTIFY THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE FOR THE HYPOTHESIS:

Fertilizer will increase the rate of grass growth

Rate of grass growth

IDENTIFY THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE FOR THE HYPOTHESIS:

Drinking extra water before a test will improve test scores

test scores

IDENTIFY THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE FOR THE HYPOTHESIS:

Hair will grow faster if a special cream is applied

rate of hair growth

IDENTIFY THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE FOR THE HYPOTHESIS:

Applying a special coating to solar cells will make them last longer.

how long the solar cells last

IDENTIFY THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE FOR THE HYPOTHESIS:

Fertilizer will increase the rate of grass growth

Fertilizer or no fertilizer

IDENTIFY THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE FOR THE HYPOTHESIS:

Drinking extra water before a test will improve test scores

Extra water or no extra water

IDENTIFY THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE FOR THE HYPOTHESIS:

Hair will grow faster if a special cream is applied

Special cream or no special cream

IDENTIFY THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE FOR THE HYPOTHESIS:

A steel alloy will be stronger if the amount of chromium is increased

The amount of chromium increased or not increased

IDENTIFY THE INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT VARIABLE :
Plants that get regular watering grow taller.

Independent variable : water
Dependent variable : plants growth.

IDENTIFY THE INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT VARIABLE :
At-risk children attending head start programs get better grades in reading in second grade.

Independent variable : head start
Dependent variable : grades

IDENTIFY THE INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT VARIABLE :
People who smoke cigarettes have a higher incidence of lung cancer.

Independent variable : smoking
Dependent variable : lung cancer

observation

Using your senses (look, touch, smell, describe) to gather information

Scientific Method

It is a process that is used to answer questions about the world

Hypothesis

Testable explanation of a question or problem (educated guess)

Experiment

A procedure that will test the hypothesis

charts/tables or graphs

Used to organize data gathered during the experiment

Conclusion

Statement that explains if the hypothesis was supported or not.

Constant/ Control Variable

All the parts of the experiment that remain the same during an experiment

variables

factors that might change in an experiment

Independent variable

The part of the experiment that is being changed or manipulated to see if it has an effect.

Dependent variable

The part of the experiment that you measure. It changes based on the effect of the Independent variable.

Control group

Experimental group that does NOT get the independent variable; used for comparison.

example of independent variable

In an experiment, a water flea is given caffeine to see how much it increases the little booger's heart rate. Caffeine is What?

example of dependent variable

If one studies for a test, the grade on the test will be better. Grade is what?

x-axis

the horizontal line on a graph (independent variable)

y-axis

the vertical line on a graph (dependent variable)

Qualitative

Observation in the form of words

Quantitative

Observation that is in numbers

Inference

a possible explanation for what you observe (that you might assume is true)

Example of inference

The sky is grey. It will rain soon.

Example of observation

The boy is crying.