Notebook Page ____
Data Tables
A data table is an organized arrangement of information in labeled rows and columns. Data tables are
helpful in many kinds of situations. In science, they are particularly useful when you record observations
during an investigation.
When you create a data table, start by indentifying the independent and dependent variables in an
experiment. For example, suppose you are comparing two types of fertilizer to see whether one of them
makes plants grow taller. The independent variable is the type of fertilizer (Fertilizer A and Fertilizer B).
Next, you need to find what you will be measuring (the dependent variable). In our example, you will be
measuring the height of the plants (in cm) every day for 5 days. Therefore a data table for this
experiment might look something like this:
Title
The Effect of Fertilizer on Plant Growth
Time in Days
Time or
number
of
trials
goes
here
1
2
3
4
5
Height of Plants in
Fertilizer A
Height of Plants in
Fertilizer B
Independent
Variable
Labels
Fill in
measurements
here
Example 1:
Leo wants to test which cleaner removes the most grape juice stains from a table cloth. He takes an old
table cloth and puts nine stains onto it. He then takes the top three selling stain-removing cleaners and
sprays every three stains with a different cleaner. He takes note of how many stains each spray
removes. Cleaner 1 removed 5 stains, Cleaner 2 removed 8 stains, and Cleaner 3 removed 4 stains.
Independent Variable:
Dependent Variable:
Trial
Example 2:
Beth wants to determine what type of music: rock, heavy metal, rap, or classical; helps her pea plants
produce the most peas. She puts out five sets of pea plants. One set is exposed to rock music, one to
heavy metal, one to rap, one to classical, and the last group has no music. She counts the number of
peas every other day for two weeks. On Day 1, the average number of peas on the rock music plants is
4 peas, on the heavy metals plants it is 6 peas, on the rap plants it is 3 peas, on the classical plants it is 3
peas, and on the no music plants it is 3 peas.
Independent Variable:
Dependent Variable:
Day
Example 3:
Benji wants to find out which color of light helps his geraniums grow the tallest. He puts a set of
geraniums under blue light, a set under red light, a set under yellow light, and a set under green light.
He measures the growth of geraniums for a month, taking measurements twice a week. On day one the
average height for the geraniums under the blue light is 3 cm, the average for the red light is 3 cm, the
average under the yellow light is 4 cm, and the average under the green light is 3.5cm.
Independent Variable:
Dependent Variable:
Day