Scientific Method

Place the following steps of the scientific method in the correct order.

• Ask a question or identify the problem.

• Research

• State your hypothesis.

• Conduct an investigation and collect data.

• Analyze data and write a conclusion.

Match the following

• outcome of the experiment

• independent variable

• change made by the experimenter

• dependent variable

• information

• data

• a factor that stays the same

• constant

• educated guess

• hypothesis

Which of the following best describes a controlled experiment?

• It eliminates the need for a dependent variable.

• It tests more than one hypothesis.

• It doesn't require data to be collected.

• It tests the effect of one variable at a time.

Students conduct an investigation to determine the effect of studying on test scores. The dependent variable in the experiment is

• studying

• students

• subject for test

• test scores

Students conduct an experiment to investigate the effect of temperature on the hatching rate of fish eggs. The independent variable in the experiment is

• temperature

• type of fish eggs

• number of fish eggs

• hatching rate of fish eggs

Which of the following makes an experiment more valid?

• a. repeating the experiment

• b. using more test subjects

• c. both a and b

• changing your data to support your hypothesis

How does the control group differ from the experimental group in a controlled experiment?

• It seeks to answer a different question or solve a different problem.

• It is not exposed to the independent variable.

• No data is collected for the control group.

• It tests a different hypothesis.

Students conducting an experiment should base their conclusion(s) on

• their hypothesis

• data from repeated trials

• a single trial so the experiment goes faster

• a small sample size

Click and drag the labels to their appropriate place on the graph shown.

a

b

independent variable

dependent variable

In the Making Connections Lab, students investigated the effect of exercise on the rate of clothespin squeezing. The independent variable in this experiment is

• exercise

• type of clothespin

• hand used to squeeze clothespin

• number of squeezes