Variables

Which brand of paper towel will absorb the most liquid? What is the variable?

• Brand of paper towel

• Amount of water absorbed

You experiment to see if a bouncy ball or a tennis ball bounces higher. What is the variable?

• Type of ball

• Same drop height

• Height of bounce

• Same surface

Angel wants to know if the type of soap has an effect on how clean her clothes get. What is the variable?

• type of soap

• how long the laundry takes

• amount of soap

• how clean the clothes are

Maddie wants to determine if the weight of the dog will determine the number of puppies in a litter. What is the variable?

• type of dog

• number of puppies

• weight of dog

• age of dog

Do plants grow best in colored light? What is the variable of this statement?

• Plant Growth

• Colored Light

You are testing how the amount you water a plant affects its growth. What would be the VARIABLE in this experiment.

• They type of pot you put the plants in.

• The amount you water each plant.

• The amount of sunlight the plants get.

• The amount the plant grows.

Ms. Frizzle wanted to know what color flower attracted the most butterflies. She already had white flowers planted, but she added red and purple flowers to her garden. Every day she watched the flowers from 10 -11 in the morning and counted how many butterflies landed on each colored flower. Each flower was planted in the band courtyard and was watered at 3:30 every day.

Red, white, and Purple flowers are the ______________

• variable

• constant

• control

Tom is creating an experiment to see what food his pet lizard likes the best. He creates an experiment in which he offers his lizard a choice of crickets or mealworms. He records how much of each choice is eaten each day. At the end of two weeks, Tom finds the lizard has eaten a few more mealworms than crickets. What is the variable? (the one thing that you changed)

• type of food

• type of lizard

• how much the lizard ate

• which food the lizard liked best

Mr. S. sets up an experiment to see how the mass of a ball affects the distance it rolls off a ramp. Identify the variable.

• distance traveled by the ball

• height of the ramp

• mass of the ball

What would the INDEPENDENT variable be in an experiment testing which types of paper airplane goes furthest?

• the paper used

• the type of paper airplane

• the distance of each plane's flight

• how hard the plane is thrown