Graphing Dependent and Independent Variables

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

AND

ADVANCED GRAPHING

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN- VARIABLES

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE - THE VARIABLE / THING THAT IS
CHANGED IN AN EXPERIMENT. IT GOES ON THE X-AXIS OF A
GRAPH.

DEPENDENT VARIABLE- THE VARIABLE / THING THAT IS
MEASURED IN AN EXPERIMENT. IT GOES ON THE Y-AXIS OF A
GRAPH. WE WANT TO SEE IF IT IS GOING UP OR DOWN.

CONTROL VARIABLES- ALL OF THE VARIABLES/THINGS WE
WANT TO KEEP CONSTANT THROUGHOUT AN EXPERIMENT.
OTHERWISE OUR DATA IS UNRELIABLE.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN- GROUPS

EXPERIMENT GROUP -THIS IS THE GROUP THAT
RECEIVES A TREATMENT OR CHANGE IN AN
EXPERIMENT.

CONTROL GROUP -THIS IS THE GROUP THAT DOES
NOT RECEIVE A TREATMENT OR CHANGE IN AN
EXPERIMENT.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN- EXAMPLE ANALYSIS

Example experiment: A group of teachers want to know how cinnamon gum affects student performance during exams. They found that cinnamon gum improves scores on exams by 5%.

Open Ended

^{Example experiment: A group of teachers want to know how cinnamon gum affects student performance during exams. They found that cinnamon gum improves scores on exams by 5%.}

What is the dependent and independent variable?

Step 2: Look at
the two Axis-
Identify the
units for each
variable.

Step 4: Look for
any trends or
patterns in the
data.

Open Ended

^{Example experiment: A group of teachers want to know how cinnamon gum affects student performance during exams. They found that cinnamon gum improves scores on exams by 5%.}

What are the control variables for this experiment?

Open Ended

^{Example experiment: A group of teachers want to know how cinnamon gum affects student performance during exams. They found that cinnamon gum improves scores on exams by 5%.}

Who is the control group and who is the experimental group?

Categorize

Options (9)

Whether or not somebody gets gum

Test / Performance Scores

Student Ages

Teacher of the Students

Content Taught to students

Average Sleep

Food / Diet

Attendance

The group that gets the gum

Organize these options into the right categories

Independent variable

Dependent variable

Control Variables

Experimental Group

7 STEPS OF GRAPHING

1. List all of the variables. (independent and dependent)
2. What are the units for measuring the variables?
3. What is the range for each variable?
4. Are there any trends or patterns? What are they?
5. Overall, what is happening and why?
6. What conclusions can be drawn from the data?
7. What are the potential weaknesses in the data?

Step 1: Look at
the two Axis-
Identify the
independent
variable/s and
the dependent
variable. Use the
key if
applicable.

Match

Match the following

• Independent Variable

• Dependent Variable

• There is no...

Time (s)

Speed (m/s)

key

• Time (s)

• Speed (m/s)

• key

Step 2: Look at
the two Axis-
Identify the
units for each
variable.

Labelling

Find the following in the image

Drag labels to their correct position on the image

Unit of measurement for speed

Unit of measurement for time

Step 3: Look at
the two Axis-
Identify the
range of the
data.

Drag and Drop

The range of data for time is ​

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seconds. The range of data for speed is ​

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meters per second (m/s).

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

6

45

35

8

Step 4: Look for
any trends or
patterns in the
data.

Drag and Drop

Overall, in this graph we see the speed of an object is being measured and it is ​​

Placeholder

. It starts out ​

Placeholder

and ends out ​

Placeholder

. The rate of change ​

Placeholder

throughout the 6 seconds.

Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

speeding up

away

moving

slower

faster

increases

decreases

stationary

stays the same

Step 5: If
possible,
visualize the
meaning of the
data.

Open Ended

Tell a brief story on what is happening in this graph. What are you imagining happening?