Nature of Science Review

Science is grounded in testable experiments. Which of these is a testable scientific question?

• Is growing plants a fun hobby?

• What gas do plants produce during photosynthesis?

• What kinds of plants look best by my house?

• What potted plants should I grow?

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Scott grew four basil plants by putting them in a mixture of water and fertilizer. He wanted to find out if growing the plants this way could make them grow taller than plants that grow in the ground. How should Scott set up a control group for his experiment?

• He should grow four basil plants in soil.

• He should grow four tomato plants in water and fertilizer.

• He should use different amounts of fertilizer for each plant.

• He should grow some plants in warm water and some in cold water.

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A scientist discovers a dinosaur fossil in her local park. She records her observations in her notebook. Why is this considered an investigation and NOT an experiment?

• The scientist had only one control group in her study.

• The scientist is unable to repeat her study of what the dinosaur ate.

• The scientist has an opinion of what the dinosaur ate.

• The scientist only recorded her observations; there was no variable, no hypothesis.

Turtles are cold-blooded, meaning they use the Sun to keep warm. A student hypothesizes that his pet turtle will prefer swimming in warm water. He places his turtle on a rock in the middle of the bathtub and measures how much time the turtle spends off of the rock during a five minute period. He conducts the experiment under four conditions in the bathtub: no water, warm water, cool water, and room temperature water. In this experiment , which is the control group?

• The warm water.

• The cool water

• The empty tub

• The room temp water

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Kareem is studying liquids and gases. Kareem adds ice to a jar of water and closes the top. Then he sees drops of water form on the outside of the jar. He says that water vapor in the air has taken liquid form. Which of the following best describes Kareem’s statement?

• prediction

• inference

• experiment

• observation

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Walt wants to know more about webs that spiders make. He looks at real examples as well as pictures. Walt says that spiders are helpful because they eat annoying insects. Which of the following BEST describes Walt’s statement?

• Opinion

• Prediction

• Experiment

• Observation

Sophia is investigating the birds in her backyard. Which of these statements is a personal opinion rather than a scientific observation?

• The red birds have the most beautiful song

• The large black birds spread their wings in the Sun

• Different types of birds live in different parts of the same tree

• More birds visit her bird feeder in the morning than in the afternoon

Peyton is conducting a scientific experiment. Why should he repeat the experiment several times?

• To use all the materials at least once

• To better understand his procedure

• To make sure his results are accurate

• To change variables during each trial

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Tina has a classmate perform her same experiment the exact same way she did. Why does her friend expect the results from both experiments to be the same?

• The friend is stealing Tina’s experiment.

• Tina made a mistake during her experiment

• Experiments don't need multiple trials.

• Experiments should be replicable by others.