Name
Date
Class
Designing an Experiment
Understanding Main Ideas
Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1. What is the function of a hypothesis in the scientific inquiry process?
2. What role do independent and dependent variables play in a controlled experiment?
3. Why are repeated trials required before accepting a hypothesis as true?
4. How do scientists develop scientific explanations about subjects that are impossible to
study through controlled experiments?
Building Vocabulary
Match each term with its definition by writing the letter of the correct definition in the
right column on the line beside the term in the left column.
5. ____ controlled experiment
a. a repetition of an experiment
6. ____ hypothesis
b. a generalization that makes sense of observations by
using logical reasoning
7. ____ repeated trial
c. an error in the design of the experiment
d. the factor that is purposely changed to test a hypothesis
8. ____ dependent variable
9. ____ scientific explanation
10. ____ bias
e. the process by which people gather evidence about the
natural world and propose explanations based on this
evidence
f.
an attempt by a different group of scientists to conduct
the same experiment
11. ____ scientific inquiry
g. the factor that may change in response to the
independent variable
12. ____ independent variable
h. a possible answer to a scientific question
i.
13. ____ replication
a scientific experiment in which only one variable is
changed at a time
Name
Date
Class
Designing an Experiment
If the statement is true, write true. If the statement is false, change the underlined word
or words to make the statement true.
1. _______________ To test a hypothesis, a scientist purposely changes the
dependent variable.
2. _______________ When drawing a conclusion, scientists examine the data to see
if it supports or fails to support the hypothesis.
3. _______________ The factor that may change in a controlled experiment is the
dependent variable.
4. _______________ A helpful tool for keeping data organized during an
experiment is a graph.
5. _______________ A hypothesis can be accepted as true after two repeated trials
have been performed.
Fill in the blank to complete each statement.
6. Posing a question is the first step in the _______________ process.
7. Accidentally having two or more variables that change in an experiment is one way to
introduce _______________ to the experiment.
8. When scientists communicate results, they always include a description of procedure
so that other scientists can perform a _______________ to evaluate the accuracy
of the results.
9. Scientists design controlled experiments to test a _______________.
10. A _______________ is a generalization that uses logical reasoning to make sense
of observations.