Science Variables

Identify the qualitative observation.

• long, round, and brittle
• 10 emails 
• 3.5 grams
• 29.42 centimeters long

Identify the quantitative observation.

• shiny
• reddish-brown
• smells minty
• has a mass of 45 grams

Does the type of gasoline put in a car affect how fast the car can drive? What is the independent variable?

• Type of gasoline
• which car the gas is put into
• how fast the car can drive
• how much gas is put into the car

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS3-1

NGSS.MS-PS3-4

Which shape of paper airplane goes furthest? What would the INDEPENDENT variable be?

• the paper used
• the shape paper airplane
• the distance of each plane's flight
• how hard the plane is thrown

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

Mrs. R sets up an experiment to see how the mass of a ball affects the distance it rolls off a ramp.  Identify the manipulated variable (independent variable).

• distance traveled by the ball
• height of the ramp
• mass of the ball
• all of the above

Mrs. R sets up an experiment to see how the mass of a ball affects the distance it rolls off a ramp.  Identify the responding variable (dependent variable).

• height of the ramp
•  distance traveled by the ball
• mass of the ball
• weight of the ball

Experimenting on plant growth, a scientist uses three of the same type of plants, two different fertilizers,  an equal amount of daylight, and equal amount of water. What type of variable is the fertilizer?

• Responding or Dependent
• Manipulated or Independent
• Control
• Compound

A student hypothesized that robins prefer large birdhouses to small ones. He build four birdhouses of different sizes to test his hypothesis. What was the independent variable?

• The size of the birdhouse
• The number of birds in the house
• The location of the birdhouse
• The season of the year

A group of middle school students were given a short course in speed reading.  The teacher was curious of money could influence their performance on a test taken at the end of the course.  Half the students were offered $5 for a getting a certain percentage better at speed reading, the other half was offered no money.  Which is the dependent variable?

• Students being offered money or not.
• Their test  scores.
• Their age in school years.
• The length of the course.

A student wanted to see which color board reflects more light.  They test this by taking the temperature of the board. The board that reflects the most light will have the lowest temperature.  They use 2 white boards, one with light and one without & 2 black boards, one with light and one without.
What is the control variable?

• The color of the board
• The amount of light reflected
• The boards with light
• The boards with no light