Name: _________________________________________
Controls and Variables
Date: _______________
Period: _____
SpongeBob and his Bikini Bottom pals have been busy doing a little research. Read the description
for each experiment and answer the questions.
1 - Patty Power
Mr. Krabbs wants to make Bikini Bottoms a nicer place to live. He has created a new sauce that he
thinks will reduce the production of body gas associated with eating crabby patties from the Krusty
Krab. He recruits 100 customers with a history of gas problems. He has 50 of them (Group A) eat
crabby patties with the new sauce. The other 50 (Group B) eat crabby patties with sauce that looks
just like new sauce but is really just mixture of mayonnaise and food coloring. Both groups were told
that they were getting the sauce that would reduce gas production. Two hours after eating the
crabby patties, 30 customers in group A reported having fewer gas problems and 8 customers in
group B reported having fewer gas problems.
Which people are in the control group? __________________________________________________
What is the independent/manipulates variable? ___________________________________________
What is the dependent/responding variable? ______________________________________________
What should Mr. Krabs’ conclusion be? __________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
2 – Slimotosis
Sponge Bob notices that his pal Gary is suffering from slimotosis, which occurs when the shell
develops a nasty slime and gives off a horrible odor. His friend Patrick tells him that rubbing seaweed
on the shell is the perfect cure, while Sandy says that drinking Dr. Kelp will be a better cure. Sponge
Bob decides to test this cure by rubbing Gary with seaweed for 1 week and having him drink Dr. Kelp.
After a week of treatment, the slime is gone and Gary’s shell smells better.
What was the initial observation? _______________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
What is the independent/manipulates variable? ___________________________________________
What is the dependent/responding variable? ______________________________________________
What should Sponge Bob’s conclusion be? ________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
Scientific Method Worksheet
Mr. Vorstadt Page 1
3 – Marshmallow Muscles
Larry was told that a certain muscle cream was the newest best thing on the market and claims to
double a person’s muscle power when used as part of a muscle-building workout. Interested in this
product, he buys the special muscle cream and recruits Patrick and SpongeBob to help him with an
experiment. Larry develops a special marshmallow weight-lifting program for Patrick and SpongeBob.
He meets with them once every day for a period of 2 weeks and keeps track of their results. Before
each session Patrick’s arms and back are lathered in the muscle cream, while Sponge Bob’s arms and
back are lathered with the regular lotion.
Which person is in the control group? _______________
______________________________________________
What is the independent/manipulates variable?
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
What is the dependent/responding variable?
___________________________________________________________________________________
What should Larry’s conclusion be? _____________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
4 – Microwave Miracle
Patrick believes that fish that eat food
exposed to microwaves will become
smarter and would be able to swim
through a maze faster. He decides to
perform an experiment by placing fish food
in a microwave for 20 seconds. He has the
fish swim through a maze and records the
time it takes for each one to make it to the
end. He feeds the special food to 10 fish
and gives regular food to 10 others. After 1
week, he has the fish swim through the maze again and records the times for each.
What was Patrick’s hypothesis? _________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
Which fish are in the control group? _____________________________________________________
What is the independent/manipulates variable? ___________________________________________
What is the dependent/responding variable? ______________________________________________
Look at the results in the charts. What should Patrick’s conclusion be? _________________________
Scientific Method Worksheet
Mr. Vorstadt Page 2
Science Vocabulary
Fill in the blanks with the words from the list below
scientific method
test
hypothesis
control
data
theory
conclusion
experiment
Sometimes referred to as an educated guess, a _________________ is a
possible proposal or explanation of an observation or established fact.
The history of the _______________
_________________ can be
traced back thousands of years and today it is a tool that scientists use to carry out
scientific investigations and acquire scientific knowledge.
An activity or group of activities that are performed in order to test a
hypothesis is also known as a ____________________.
A __________________ variable is variable that is held constant so that its
effect on other factors can be observed.
The variable over which you will have control and that which will be the
subject of your experiment is also known as a __________ variable.
After being tested and verified numerous times, a hypothesis may be
considered a ______________.
As you carry out your experiment, you will usually make observations and
collect __________ that will be analyzed and used to support or refute your
hypothesis.
A _____________________ is formed after you have performed your
experiment and have analyzed the data that you have collected.
Scientific Method Worksheet
Mr. Vorstadt Page 3
Read the paragraphs below and fill in the blanks with the words that best answers the
question. You will find the word that matches best in each of the word groups below.
USE THE WORDS ONCE OR NOT AT ALL
laboratory
controls
variable
conclusion
hypothesis
scientific
experiments
factor
problem
data
theory
senses
The ________________ method is a process that scientists use to help them
test new ideas. The first step in this process usually involves defining the
___________.
The next step involves gathering information and making observations of
natural phenomena. A way in which this can be done is by using one or more of the
five __________. After initial observations have been made, the following step
usually involves the scientist making an educated guess or a __________. This is a
possible explanation of how or why the phenomena that have been observed occur.
Following this, an investigation may be carried out to determine the
plausibility of the explanation. This is usually done through performing one or more
activities that are collectively known as __________. Observations are made and
recorded. These recorded observations are known as __________.
After the observations have been made and recorded, the scientist then forms a
__________ and in the process notes whether the observations made and the
results recorded support or refute the hypothesis.
In future, other scientists may retest this hypothesis and if it turns out that
after numerous retests, the hypothesis remains supported by experimental data, it
may become known as a __________.
Scientific Method Worksheet
Mr. Vorstadt Page 4
Answer Key
1 - Patty Power
 Group B
 New sauce
 Amount of gas
 The new sauce appears to work as it reduced the amount of gas produced in 60%
of the people tested.
2 – Slimotosis
 Slimotosis on Gary’s shell
 Cures (Seaweed and Dr. Kelp)
 Slime and odor
 Although Gary’s symptoms have disappeared, it is not known which cure was the
one that worked. He should redo the experiment and include a control group as
well as two other testing groups for each of the proposed cures.
3 – Marshmallow Muscles
 SpongeBob
 Muscle cream
 Amount of marshmallows lifted (strength)
 Since both Patrick and SpongeBob improved their results by the end of two
weeks, it does not appear that the claims for the special muscle cream are true. If
the claims were correct, we should have seen Patrick’s amount double, but not
SpongeBob’s amount. The improvements were likely a result of Larry’s special
workout.
4 – Microwave Miracle
 He hypothesized that feeding fish micro waved food would make them become
smarter.
 The fish that eat regular food
 Micro waved food
 Time required to complete the maze
 According to the data, all but two fish in each group decreased their time
through the maze. The special food does not appear to be a big factor in helping
fish become smarter.


Answers in order of sentence
hypothesis, scientific method, experiment, control, test, theory, data, conclusion
Answers in order of occurrence
scientific, problem, senses, hypothesis, experiments, data, conclusion, theory
Scientific Method Worksheet
Mr. Vorstadt Page 5