Designing a Controlled
Experiment
Making
Connections
NY State Lab
(Part B)
1. What question will you be
attempting to answer?
• Does exercise affect
clothespin squeezing rate?
2. Definition of the word hypothesis:
• “A tentative statement about the expected
relationship between the variables”
• What hypothesis will you be testing?
– If I exercise prior to squeezing the clothespin,
then the rate of clothespin squeezing will
increase.
– If I exercise prior to squeezing the clothespin,
then the rate of clothespin squeezing will
decrease.
3a. What is the title of your
experiment?
•The effect of exercise
on clothespin
squeezing
rate
4. Plan the design for your
experiment.
a. What is the dependent variable?
Clothespin squeezing rate
b. What is the independent variable?
Exercising before clothespin squeezing
c. What other variables will it be important to
keep constant to obtain meaningful data?
Intensity and duration of exercise, time from
exercise to squeezing, etc…
4. Plan the design for your
experiment.
• How many people will you test?
– 3 or 4
• How many trials will you conduct for each
person?
–3
• What will you have each person do?
– Measure # of times they squeeze a clothespin after
resting and after exercising
• What safety precautions need to be taken?
– Exercise alertly and behave responsibly
5. Design your data table
• Sample…
Name
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Total
Average
Name
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Average
Total
6. Write out the steps you will follow
to conduct your experiment step-bystep.
1. Squeeze a clothespin as fast as you can for 30
seconds counting squeezes and record
number.
2. Repeat step 1 for two more trials.
3. Perform 30 jumping jacks.
4. Repeat step 1.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for two more trials.
6. Calculate averages for resting and exercising.