EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN WITH THE
SIMPSONS
FOR EACH EXERCISE, PLEASE DETERMINE
The Control Group
 The Independent Variable
 The Dependent Variable
 What should the conclusion be?
 How Could the Experiment Be Improved?

HOMER SIMPSON




Homer notices that his shower is
covered in a strange green slime.
His friend Barney tells him that coconut
juice will get rid of the green slime.
Homer decides to check this out by
spraying half the shower with coconut
juice and the other half with water.
After three days of “treatment” there is
no change in the appearance of the
green slime on either side of the shower.
BART SIMPSON



Bart believes that mice exposed to microwaves will
become extra strong
He placed 10 mice in a microwave for 10 seconds.
He compared these to another 10 mice that had not
been exposed by placing a block of heavy wood in
front of their food.
Mice Group
Exposed to
Microwaves
Not Exposed
Could move Could not move
block
block
8
2
7
3
KRUSTY THE CLOWN

Subject A
Old Powder
30 minutes
of itching
Subject B
New Powder 45 minutes
of itching
Krusty was told that a
certain itching powder
was the newest best
thing on the market,
causing 50% longer
lasting itches. He buys
the new powder and
compares it to his old
powder by testing the two
products on two different
subjects
WAYLON SMITHERS



Group
Number of
Stapled
Papers

A
1,587

B
2,113
Smithers thinks that a special juice
will increase the productivity of his
workers.
He creates two groups of 50
workers each and assigns them the
same task, stapling sets of papers.
Group A is given the special juice to
drink while they work.
Group B is not given the special
juice.
After an hour, he counts how many
stacks of papers each group has
made.
DESIGN AN EXPERIMENT FOR LISA SIMPSON


Lisa Simpson is working
on her science project:
“Does Rogooti (a
commercial hair product)
affect the speed of hair
growth?” Her family is
willing to volunteer for
the experiment.

Describe how Lisa
would perform this
experiment
Identify the control
group and the
independent and
dependent variables