Independent vs. Dependent Variables

How long you sleep affects your test score. Identify the dependent variable.

• length of sleep

• test score

Vitamin could extend a person's life expectancy. The dependent variable is __________.

• amount of vitamin taken

• life span

"Do tomatoes grow faster under fluorescent, incandescent, or natural light?"

What is the independent variable?

• type of light

• rate of growth

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

You want to test which soil will help grass grow the tallest. The height of the grown grass is the __________ variable.

• independent

• dependent

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

"Which brand of bubblegum will have the biggest bubble?"

The size of the bubble is the __________ variable.

• independent

• dependent

Your friends invite you to a party and you decide to attend, but you're worried that staying out too long will affect how well you do on your geometry test tomorrow morning. Your exam score is the __________ variable.

• independent

• dependent

Say you want to know whether caffeine affects your appetite. The presence/absence of a given amount of caffeine would be the __________ variable. How hungry you are would be the __________ variable.

• independent , dependent

• dependent , independent

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

• the type of paper

• the distance of each plane's flight

• how hard the plane is thrown

• the person who made the paper plane

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

Students took a test after they had studied either in silence or with the television turned on. What is the dependent variable?

• subject

• test scores

• silence

• amount of exposure to television

Jon set up an experiment to see how the mass of a ball affects the distance it rolls off a ramp. Identify the independent variable.

• who sets up the experiment

• height of the ramp

• mass of the ball

• distance traveled by the ball

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS3-4