Investigations vs Experiments

Four students are planning to do science projects. Only one of the projects is an experiment.

Which student is doing an experiment?

• Selene

• Walden

• My

• Sasha

Asela places a thermometer in sunlight for 5 minutes and then reads it. Next, she places the thermometer in the shade for 5 minutes and then reads it. How can you tell that Asela is NOT doing an experiment?

• She did not repeat the activity.

• She did not write anything down

• It is not a carefully controlled test

• There are no variables being explored.

Tammy is investigating whether a person’s height remains the same all day long. She is going to measure the heights of 5 of her friends at different times of the day. What best describes the type of investigation Tammy is doing?

• demonstration

• experiment

• interview

• survey

Which brand of paper towel breaks down fastest? What type of investigation will he do to answer the question?

• demonstration

• experiement

• interview

• survey

Megan is testing how the age of a seed affects how fast plants grow. Look at the picture to see if you can figure out what makes her experiment unfair. Mark all that apply.

• She used different types of seeds/plants.

• The plants are in different pots.

• She did not plant very many plants.

• Seed age might not make a difference.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

Sadie is testing how the age of a seed affects how fast plants grow. Look at the picture to see if you can figure out what makes her experiment unfair. Mark all that apply.

• She used different types of seeds/plants.

• The plants are in different kinds of pots.

• She did not plant very many plants.

• Seed age might not make a difference.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

In order to find out which towel brand holds the most water, we should do an ____________________.

• hypothesis

• investigation

• science project

• conclusion

Chloe wonders what type of string is best for growing crystals. She uses 4 four types of string. She puts them all in glasses with the same baking-powder solution. Then she observes the crystal growth. How do you know that Chloe is doing an experiment?

• She will form a conclusion about the type of string that is best.

• She is observing how well crystals grow on each string

• All conditions except string type are constant

• Before she started, she made a plan.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-2

NGSS.MS-ETS1-3

Alexander has a new type of liquid fertilizer for his house plants. He wonders what solution of fertilizer and water will make his plants grow best tallest? What is the best way to investigate the question?

• look in his gardening books

• interview the local nursery owner

• take a survey of people coming out of the nursery

• do an experiment with different percent fertilizer solutions

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-1

NGSS.MS-ETS1-2

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

Kimberly made a model to show the spinning of a tornado. She filled a 2-liter soda bottle with water. Then she connected it neck-to-neck with an empty 2-liter bottle. She flipped the water-filled bottle upside down and turned it a few times. She observed the way the water moved inside the bottle. Why isn’t Kimberly’s model of a tornado considered to be a scientific experiment?

• She cannot replicate it.

• Kimberly is not making observations.

• The model is not being used to test a question

• She did not use a procedure