Experimental Design Quick Review

The parts of the experiment that must be kept the same.

• Constants
• Independent variable

• Dependent variable

• Conclusion

Maya designed an experiment to answer the following question: How does the amount of water given to a lima

bean seed affect how tall it grows?

In this experiment, what variable should Maya CHANGE?

• the amount of water

• the kind of plant

• the type of soil

• the amount of sunlight it gets

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

How many variables should you change in an experiment?

• none
• only 1

• 2 or more
• depends on the type of experiment

Chris set up an experiment to see how the mass of a ball affects the distance it rolls off a ramp. What is the dependent variable?

• distance traveled by the ball
• height of the ramp
• mass of the ball
• ball type

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

NGSS.MS-PS3-1

What step does every scientific experiment begin with?

• hypothesis
• question/problem
• procedure or test

• conclusion

When more than one variable in an experiment is changed at a time, the scientist....

• cannot accurately measure both variables at the same time.

• needs to conduct more trials in order to get conclusive results.

• cannot tell which change produced the results.

• made a systematic error that needs to be corrected.

The type of variable that responds to the experiment and is what you measure or count to determine if your hypothesis is true.

• Independent
• Dependent
• Control

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

You can have more than one independent variable in a controlled experiment.

• True
• False

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS2-2

A scientist is testing which flavor of ice cream melts the fastest. What would his controlled variables be? (choose ALL that apply)

• The flavor of ice cream

• the kind of cone the ice creams are in

• the place in the room where the ice cream is

• the size of the scoop

• the time it takes to melt

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS3-4

If I water the plant more often, then it will grow taller.  Name the dependent variable.

• The amount of water.
• The amount of soil.
• The height of the plant.
• The amount of water.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

NGSS.MS-LS2-1