SOL 4.1 & 5.

1 : Scientific Investigation, Reasoning, & Logic

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Science Tools
Identify the following science tools.
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stopwatch
! thermometer
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!graduated balance
!cylinder scale
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! ruler meter stick
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© K. Beasley, updated 4/2014!
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Science Terminology
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Hypothesis: an educated guess about what will happen in an experiment.
Manipulated (Independent) Variable: the variable in an experiment that I change
Reponding (Dependent) Variable: the variable in an experiment that changes as a result
Constants: the variables in an experiment that stay the same
Conclusion: states the results of your experiment
Inference: using what you already know and observations to investigate
Prediction: a guess you make about things that might happen
Observation: something you can use your senses to smell, hear, see, or touch
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Read this scenario, then determine what each part of the experiment is.
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In class, Joey decided to conduct an experiment. He wanted to see if a plant that was
watered with salt water would grow as much as a plant that was watered with plain water.
He thinks the plant watered with salt water will grow slower than the plain watered plant. He
chose a sunny window to put both plants in, he chose the same pots, soil, and plant. Every
other day he watered plant A with plain water, and plant B with salt water. At the end of
each week he measured the growth of both plants. He discovered that the plain watered
plant grew 14 inches in one month. The other plant did not grow at all, but shrunk, and
died. He created a graph to show his results to his classmates.
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Determine which vocabulary word goes with each clue.
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Dependent variable
1. Amount of growth in the plants ____________________________________________
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hypothesis
2. He thinks the salt-watered plant will grow slower _______________________________
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Results/conclusions
3. The graph he created to show plant growth __________________________________
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Independent variable
4. Watering one plant with salt water and the other with plain water ____________________
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Constants
5. The location of the plants, the kind of plant, the pots, and the soil _________________
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 Reading a Chart to Discover More Information
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Using the identification key above, answer the following questions:
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Limestone or Marble
1. What kind of rock fizzes with acid? ___________________________________
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Slate
2. What kind of rock is layered and brittle? _______________________________

Conglomerate
3. What kind of rock has big pebbles in it? ________________________________
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Basalt
4. What rock is dark but has no layers? __________________________________
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 Observations, Inferences, Predictions, & Conclusions: It’s what scientists do
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Identify whether each statement is a scientific prediction (P), observation (O), or an
inference (I).
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O 1. Lily is shorter than Dylan.
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______ 2. The bread on the counter turned moldy after a week, so next week’s loaf of bread
will probably do the same thing.
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O 3. The tiger is orange and black striped, has claws, and sharp teeth.
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I 4. Astronauts must train very hard to prepare to go into space.
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P 5. If lemonade dissolves into water, then Kool-Aid will probably dissolve in water.
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I 6. Some underwater animals use bioluminescence to find prey.
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P 7. A full moon will be followed by a waning gibbous moon.
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O 8. The red flashlight shines brighter than the blue one.
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P 9. Eliza thinks that the flowers she planted will be yellow when they come up again
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this spring.
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I 10. The rock with lots of holes must be igneous.
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Qualitative and Quantitative Data
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When conducting experiments you will get both qualitative and quantitative data.

senses (see, hear, smell, taste, and

Qualitative data can be recorded using your five ____________

measurements
touch). Whereas, quantitative date can be recorded using ______________________

(height, weight, amount of time, temperature, etc.)

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Sort the items from the box into the correct categories.

Qualitative Quantitative
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!! soft 35 minutes
!! pink 4 hours
stinky 5 pounds
!! fuzzy 73 mL
!! cute 17 in
!! hard 5 ft
!! fruity 38 cm
!! green
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soft 35 minutes pink 4 hours stinky
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5 pounds fuzzy 73 mL 17 in. cute
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hard 38 cm fruity green 5 ft


© K. Beasley, updated 4/2014!

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 Making Inferences and Predictions based on a Graph
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Use the graph below to draw conclusions about the data.
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AVERAGE PLANT HEIGHTS (CM)
11.0 10.5
8.6
8.3 7.6
6.6
5.7
5.5
4.1

2.8 2.1 1.7

0.0
Week 1 Week 5 Week 10 Week 15

Control Road Salt

Week 1
1. Which week showed the smallest difference in the growth of the plants? _____________
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Week 15
2. Which week showed the greatest difference in the growth of the plants? _____________
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3. If we were to continue this experiment, what would you expect would happen in week 25?
! road salt plant would not have grown much, while the control plant should
The
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continue to grow.
4. Why is the “Road Salt” plant growing slower than the control? ______________________
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The salt is contaminating the water and preventing the plant from absorbing all
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 Creating Graphs Based on Data Collected during an Experiment
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TEST RUBBER TENNIS In this experiment, students dropped two round
Time 1 1.80 1.90 objects, a tennis ball and a rubber ball from the
Time 2 1.83 1.81 same height. They recorded the time it took for the
Time 3 1.84 1.87 ball to hit the ground. The class repeated the
Time 4 1.83 1.85
experiment 6 times to ensure their results were
accurate. Make a bar graph to chart their results.
Time 5 1.78 1.89
Be sure to include a title and label your X & Y axis.
Time 6 1.81 1.79
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© K. Beasley, updated 4/2014!

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