Definitions:
Experimental control – experiment done without
the variable
Independent variable – variable that is changed on
purpose by the scientist
Dependent variable – variable that is measured in
the experiment
A way to remember:
DRY (Dependent-Responding on Y-axis)
MIX (Manipulated-Independent on X-axis)
Experiment 1:
A scientist creates an experiment to determine if
giving mice vitamins causes them to grow larger.
Two groups of mice would be used in this
experiment. The first group of mice would be given
vitamins to see how their growth is affected. The
second group of mice would not be given any
vitamins.
Winter Break:
Name: _____________________________________________
Period: _____
Due Date :1-5-15
Directions: Read the experiment answer the following questions
in detail. Be sure to complete all 8 experiments.
1. What is the experimental control?
2. What is the independent variable?
3. What is the dependent variable?
Experiment 2:
Ashley conducts an experiment studying the effect
of cold temperature on height that bouncy ball can
bounce. She gathers three identical bouncy balls,
places one in the freezer, second one in the
refrigerator, and third one on the kitchen counter.
Finally she drops the bouncy balls all from a 10
meter height and measures maximum bounce
height.
4. What is the experimental control?
5. What is the independent variable?
6. What is the dependent variable?
Experiment 3:
A student conducts an experiment comparing rates
of water transfer in flowers. He uses two different
types of flowers, rose and carnation, placing them
both in two separate vases of water mixed with
food coloring, then compares the rates at which the
two sets of flowers changed color as a result of the
food coloring in the water.
7. What is the experimental control?
8. What is the independent variable?
9. What is the dependent variable?
Experiment 4:
A scientist believes that bright red chest coloring on
male birds makes them more attractive to females. In
an experiment, she uses six birds, all with the same
color chest. She bleaches the feathers of two of the
birds, dyes the chests of two of the birds bright red,
and leaves the chests of two of the birds alone. When
females are exposed to these males, she believes that
more females will chose to mate with the red-dyed
males.
10. What is the experimental control?
Experiment 5:
An engineer needs to build a dog enclosure that is
resistant to rust and deterioration. She embarks on
a study to determine which material would be the
most corrosion resistant. She places zinc coated
steel, copper, steel, and aluminum into jars of
water. She also places the same metals into a jar of
air. Then she records observations for 2 weeks.
13. What is the experimental control?
Experiment 6:
A student decides to test how effective different
sunscreen products are at blocking harmful UV
radiation from sunlight. Tarryn uses a UV monitor
wrapped in clear plastic wrap to measure the amount
UV rays that penetrate a) Neutrogena SPF15, b)
Aveeno SPF15, c) Loreal SPF15, and d) clear plastic
wrap with no sun-blocking lotion. She repeats the
measurements six times to get accurate data
16. What is the experimental control?
Experiment 7:
Michael Jordan decides to study how success rate of a
basketball shot will very with angle to the backboard.
He takes shots a set distance from the basket, but
systematically varies the angle to the backboard. He
starts at a 0-degree angle (straight into the
backboard) and increases at 10-degree increments.
He makes 20 shots for each angle and then calculates
percentage of successful shots for each angle.
19. What is the experimental control?
11. What is the independent variable?
12. What is the dependent variable?
14. What is the independent variable?
15. What is the dependent variable?
17. What is the independent variable?
18. What is the dependent variable?
20. What is the independent variable?
21. What is the dependent variable?