Manipulated and
Responding Variables
Congratulations! You found the
presentation!
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I hope that you are behaving and having a wonderful day!
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By the end of this PowerPoint you will be a PRO at manipulated and
responding variables! Woohoo!
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To become a pro, follow along the PowerPoint with your notes, filling in when
needed. Its that easy!
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If you work hard to understand the problems and think deeply like a 4th
grader, you will have no problem with this! If you act like a 2nd grader and just
click through the slides being silly, you WILL be confused! The type of student
that you are is YOUR choice!
Turn to the page that says “Scientific
Variables” at the top. You will fill this out
first.
It looks like this!
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Manipulated and Responding Variable
Think of the manipulated and responding variable as something similar to cause
and effect: the manipulated variable is the cause and the responding variable is
the effect. Keep that in mind!
Variables
There are 2 main types of variables:
Manipulated Variable: The variable that is changed by the scientist; the ‘I
control’ variable
Responding Variable: The variable that might change because of what the
scientist changes – what is being measured
Variables
There are 2 main types of variables:
Manipulated Variable: The variable that is changed by the scientist; the ‘I
control’ variable
The MV (manipulated variable) is what you do!
Responding Variable: The variable that might change because of what the
scientist changes – what is being measured
The RV (responding variable) is what happens.
Lets give it a try:
I scared my brother, and he screamed.
What did YOU do?
Lets give it a try:
I scared my brother, and he screamed.
What did YOU do?
YOU scared your brother.
So, what happened because of your action?
Lets give it a try:
I scared my brother, and he screamed.
What did YOU do?
YOU scared your brother.
So, what happened because of your action?
Your brother screamed.
Lets give it a try:
I scared my brother, and he screamed.
This is the manipulated variable. You controlled or manipulated what happened:
I scared my brother.
This is the responding variable. This happened in response to what you did.
My brother screamed.
Ready for another one?
I was so tired, I overslept.
What did you control?
What happened because of that?
I was so tired, I overslept.
What did you control?
You controlled how tired you were.
What happened because of that?
Because of how tired you were, you overslept.
I was so tired, I overslept.
What did you control? You controlled how tired you were.
Manipulated variable: How tired I was
What happened because of that? Because of how tired you were, you
overslept.
Responding variable: I overslept.
Cause: I was tired
Effect: I overslept.
Ready for another one?
I played video games instead of studying for
my science test, so I failed.
What did you control or manipulate?
What happened because of that?
I played video games instead of studying for
my science test, so I failed.
What did you control or manipulate?
You controlled not studying.
What happened because of that?
You failed.
I played video games instead of studying for
my science test, so I failed.
What did you control or manipulate? You controlled not studying.
Manipulated Variable: I played video games instead of studying.
What happened because of that? You failed.
Responding Variable: I failed by test.
Give this to your sub. I will check it
and have you glue it back in!
Now try the worksheet that says “Manipulated
and Responding Variable Practice” at the top
 It looks like this
You need to do the worksheet on your own,
but click through the slides for some extra
help
Plant Example
You want to find out how light affects plant growth. Every
day you measure the plant to see how much it has grown.
Manipulated Variable:
Responding Variable:
What is controlled or
manipulated here? What acts on
its own without you doing
anything to it?
What happened because of the
manipulated variable?
Plant Example
You want to find out how light affects plant growth. Every
day you measure the plant to see how much it has grown.
Manipulated Variable:
Responding Variable:
What is controlled or
manipulated here? What acts on
its own without you doing
anything to it?
What happened because of the
manipulated variable?
The amount of sunlight is the
manipulated variable.
The plant growth is the
responding variable.
Electromagnet Example
An investigation was done with an electromagnetic system made
from a battery and wire wrapped around a nail. The number of
paper clips the electromagnet could pick up was measured.
Manipulated Variable:
Responding Variable:
What is controlled or
manipulated here? What acts on
its own without you doing
anything to it?
What happened because of the
manipulated variable?
Egg Example
The higher the temperature of water, the faster an egg will
boil.
Manipulated Variable:
Responding Variable:
What is controlled or
manipulated here? What acts on
its own without you doing
anything to it?
What happened because of the
manipulated variable?
Depth Example
The temperature of water was measured at different depths
of a pond. (depth= how deep a pond is).
Manipulated Variable:
Responding Variable:
What is controlled or
manipulated here? What acts on
its own without you doing
anything to it?
What happened because of the
manipulated variable?
When you finish your sheet, put your
name on the sheet and turn it into the
substitute. The sub will give you further
directions. We will go over this
tomorrow!