Nature of Science

What is the first step in the scientific method?

• Ask a question

• Hypothesis

• Conclusion

• Analyze data

A student wants to perform a science experiment about plants. He wants to know if a certain type of soil will make plants grow taller. Each pot will receive a different type of soil, but will get the same type of seed, water amount, and sunlight amount.What is the Independent Variable in this story?

• Amount of sunlight

• How tall the plant will grow

• Amount of water

• Type of material the plant is growing in

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

What do you measure for results (outcome)?

• Dependent variable

• Hypothesis

• Experimental Group

• Constants

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-PS1-2

If an animal shelter wants to see if a certain dog food causes a dog to gain weight, which of the following would NOT be a constant?

• Type of dog food given

• Amount of dog good given

• Time of day food is given

• Amount of exercise dog is given

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-1

NGSS.MS-ETS1-2

Why is it important to have constants in an experiment?

• To make sure the experiment is fair

• Constants are not needed for experiments.

• To measure the dependent variables all at once

• To test many variables at a time

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

This bar graph shows the number of cheeseburgers sold at McYummies drive thru last week. Study the graph and answer the following question.

What was the maximum number of burgers sold, and on which day was this?

• 30 burgers on Tuesday

• 60 Burgers on Thursday

• 20 Burgers on Thursday

• 25 Burgers on Monday

Which of the following is not an example of quantitative data?

• Temperature

• Speed

• Height

• Texture

Anna is in charge of studying how the amount of plant food (fertilizer) affects the height of a plant at a local garden. Which testable statement does she investigate?

• There is no way to test this hypothesis.

• If a plant receives two cups of food per day, then the height of the plant will increase

• If a plant gets different amounts of water and two cups of food per day, the height of the plant will increase

• If a plant receives more sunlight, the height of the plant will decrease

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

Why do many experiments include several trials instead of a single trial?

• Repetition of trials increases the accuracy of the results

• Repetition of trials decreases the sample size of the experiment.

• Repetition of trials makes data easier to analyze.

• It is not necessary to repeat trials

1. Aside from repeating a scientific experiment, what else must a scientist do to increase the accuracy of the results?

• Change the hypothesis

• Share data with other scientists for them to repeat or replicate

• Analyze the data faster

• Keep the data for themselves