Name__________________________________________________Date____________

Independent and Dependent (Responding) Variables

Scenario

Independent Variable

Responding Variable

1. One cow is fed a growth hormone and another cow is not. After a year, both cows are weighed. 2. Mosquito repellent is sprayed on one arm and the other arm is not sprayed. The number of mosquito bites is counted after 2 hours. 3. Bob studies for a test and Jackie does not study. After the test, they compare their scores. 4. Two cars are on a track and accelerate to 60 mph. At a certain point, both cars slam on the brakes. The distance it takes for each car to stop is then measured. 5. A group of people take a diet pill. After 3 months, they measure the amount of weight they lost. 6. Ants are placed in a tray that is shaped like a T, at the end of the T, the ants can either go to a darkened area or a light area. Students count how many ants end up on the dark side and how many end up on the light side. 7. One company states that it makes the best staplers. To prove it, they use the stapler to staple a thousand papers and compare it to a competitor. The competitors stapler jammed 3 x whereas their stapler only jammed once. 8. A pediatrician designs baby formula to help babies gain weight. To show his formula works, he compares the weights of babies that have been using the formula to the weights of babies not on the formula. 9. Cockroaches are exposed to the chemical dioxin. After 3 hours, 45/100 cockroaches are dead.

Identify the Controls and Variables

Smithers thinks that a special juice will increase the productivity of workers. He creates two groups of 50 workers each and assigns each group the same task (in this case, they're supposed to staple a set 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, Smithers counts how many stacks of papers each group has made. Group A made 1,587 stacks, Group B made 2,113 stacks. 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 this out by spraying half of the shower with coconut juice. He sprays the other half of the shower with water. After 3 days of "treatment" there is no change in the appearance of the green slime on either side of the shower. Bart believes that mice exposed to radiowaves will become extra strong (maybe he's been reading too much Radioactive Man). He decides to perform this experiment by placing 10 mice near a radio for 5 hours. He compared these 10 mice to another 10 mice that had not been exposed. His test consisted of a heavy block of wood that blocked the mouse food. he found that 8 out of 10 of the radiowaved mice were able to push the block away. 7 out of 10 of the other mice were able to do the same. Identify the: 1. Control Group 2. Independent Variable 3. Dependent Variable 4. What should Smithers' conclusion be? 5. How could this experiment be improved?

6. What was the iniitial observation? Identify the7. Control Group 8. Independent Variable 9. Dependent Variable 10. What should Homer's conclusion be? It doesn't work Identify the-11. Control Group 12. Independent Variable 13. Dependent Variable 14. What should Bart's conclusion be? 15. How could Bart's experiment be improved?

Krusty was told that a certain itching powder was the newest best thing on the market, it even claims to cause 50% longer lasting itches. Interested in this product, he buys the itching powder and compares it to his usual product. One test subject (A) is sprinkled with the original itching powder, and another test subject (B) was sprinkled with the Experimental itching powder. Subject A reported having itches for 30 minutes. Subject B reported to have itches for 45 minutes.

Identify the-16. Control Group 17. Independent Variable 18. Dependent Variable 19. Explain whether the data supports the advertisements claims about its product. - It does

Lisa is working on a science project. Her task is to answer the question: "Does Rogooti (which is a commercial hair product) affect the speed of hair growth". Her family is willing to volunteer for the experiment.

20. Describe how Lisa would perform this experiment. Identify the control group, and the independent and dependent variables in your description.

The Strange Case of BeriBeri

In 1887 a strange nerve disease attacked the people in the Dutch East Indies. The disease was beriberi. Symptoms of the disease included weakness and loss of appetite, victims often died of heart failure. Scientists thought the disease might be caused by bacteria. They injected chickens with bacteria from the blood of patients with beriberi. The injected chickens became sick. However, so did a group of chickens that were not injected with bacteria. One of the scientists, Dr. Eijkman, noticed something. Before the experiment, all the chickens had eaten whole-grain rice, but during the experiment, the chickens were fed polished rice. Dr. Eijkman researched this interesting case. he found that polished rice lacked thiamine, a vitamin necessary for good health. 1. State the Problem 2. What was the hypothesis? 3. How was the hypothesis tested? 4. Should the hypothesis be supported or rejected based on the experiment? 5. What should be the new hypothesis?

How Penicillin Was Discovered

In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming was studying Staphylococcus bacteria growing in culture dishes. He noticed that a mold called Penicillium was also growing in some of the dishes. A clear area existed around the mold because all the bacteria that had grown in this area had died. In the culture dishes without the mold, no clear areas were present. Fleming hypothesized that the mold must be producing a chemical that killed the bacteria. He decided to isolate this substance and test it to see if it would kill bacteria. Fleming transferred the mold to a nutrient broth solution. This solution contained all the materials the mold needed to grow. After the mold grew, he removed it from the nutruient broth. Fleming then added the nutrient broth in which the mold had grown to a culture of bacteria. He observed that the bacteria died. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Identify the problem. What was Fleming's hypothesis? How was the hypothesis tested? Should the hypothesis be supported or rejected based on the experiment? This experiment lead to the development of what major medical advancement?

Analyzing Data
1. An experiment studies the effects of an experimental drug on the number of offspring a mother mouse has. 10 female mice are given the drug and then impregnated. The number of mice in their litters is compared to the litters of mice that did not take the drug. Number of Babies in Litter
Group A(drug) Group B(control) 5 4 6 4 4 6 8 6 5 5 2 6 7 4 12 7 12 5 8 3

Based on the data, what would you conclude about the drug? How do you figure out whether the drug worked?

2. A type of feed claims to boost the growth rate of cows. The feed is tested on two twin newborn cows. Bessie receives the experimental feed, and Bertha receives regular corn feed. Their weights are recorded below.
Month Bessie Bertha April 150 lbs 150 lbs May 210 lbs 250 lbs June 260 lbs 290 lbs July 320 lbs 340 lbs Aug 400 lbs 400 lbs

Graph the data below. Use a dotted line for Bessie and a straight line for Bertha. Make sure you label the X and Y Axis of the graph

Both cows ended at the same weight, but did the experimental feed change the way they gained weight at all? Describe your conclusions about the experimental feed. Why is it important that the experiment used twin cows?

3.a. According to the graph, which town grew the fastest? b. Which town declined in population? c. Which town had the smallest change in population? d. What is the population of Woodland in 2000?

4. a. According to the graph, which group of organisms has the most number of species? b. What is the total percentage for all invertebrates? c. Approximately what percentage are vertebrates?

5. The population of tiger sharks off the coast of Florida was recorded over several months. Graph the tiger shark populations below.

The number of nurse sharks was also recorded for this time period; though the person recorded the number was not as reliable as the person recording tiger shark numbers. The following data was taken on nurse sharks. Use a different color to graph the nurse shark population on the graph above. March - 60 | April - 52 | July - 38 | August - 20 | November- 14 | December - 11 a. At what month would you expect the number of nurse sharks to equal the number of tiger sharks? b. What does the graph tell you about the trends both shark populations?

Lab Report Template

Title: * a brief, concise, yet descriptive title Statement of the Problem: * What question(s) are you trying to answer? * Include any preliminary observations or background information about the subject Hypothesis: * Write a possible solution for the problem. * Make sure this possible solution is a complete sentence. * Make sure the statement is testable, an if-then statement is recommended to illustrate what criteria will support your hypothesis (and what data would no support the hypothesis). Materials: * Make a list of ALL items used in the lab. Alternatively, materials can be included as part of the procedure. Procedure: * Write a paragraph (complete sentences) which explains what you did in the lab as a short summary. * Add details (step-by-step) of your procedure in such a way that anyone else could repeat the experiment. Results (Data): * This section should include any data tables, observations, or additional notes you make during the lab. * You may attach a separate sheet(s) if necessary. * All tables, graphs and charts should be labeled appropriately. Conclusions: * Accept or reject your hypothesis. * EXPLAIN why you accepted or rejected your hypothesis using data from the lab. * Include a summary of the data - averages, highest, lowest..etc to help the reader understand your results. Try not to copy your data here, you should summarize and reference KEY information. * List one thing you learned and describe how it applies to a real-life situation. *Discuss possible errors that could have occurred in the collection of the data (experimental errors)

Steps of the Scientific Method 1) Ask questions, make observations 2) Gather information 3) Form a hypothesis 4) Set up a controlled experiment Manipulated variable the variable that is deliberately changed (independent variable) Responding variable is variable that is observed ( aka dependent variable) 5) Record and analyze results 6) Draw a conclusion 7) Repeat

The Scientific Method in Action Suppose you observed that a cricket outside your window seems to be chirping every night, but some nights it chirps faster than others. A friend of yours told you once that you can use the sound of a cricket chirp to tell the temperature. Curious, you decide to design an experiment. First you must create a hypothesis; here are some examples of possible hypotheses: The frequency of cricket chirps will change As the temperature decreases, a cricket will chirp fewer times. as the temperature changes.

Either hypothesis will work, the important thing is that you can -test- the hypothesis by doing an experiment which will confirm or deny the statement. To set up the experiment, you go out to your yard and capture a few crickets. You bring them inside and place them in a container. But wait, if you have a bunch of crickets together, what if they chirp based on how many crickets there are nearby. The goal in designing an experiment is to eliminate all the variables except the one you are testing. This means all your cricket subject must be housed in the same environment (same lighting, same food, same water..etc). Okay, so you get that set up and take the temperature of your room. Now you must wait for the crickets to start chirping. You count how many times the cricket chirps for a 5 minute period. Now you have to compare that number with the chirps that occur at different temperatures. You may use a heating pad, or ice or any other way to lower or raise their temperature. You would then take data for 5 minutes at the new temperature. In your experiment, the MANIPULATED VARIABLE is the thing you changed the temperature. The RESPONDING VARIABLE is what you are measuring that happens as a result of that change - the number of chirps. The CONTROL GROUP isnt obvious in this case but you can consider your original (room temperature) data as your control, and the other temperatures your experimental data. After you have taken data, you can then draw a conclusion about whether your hypothesis is accepted (correct) or denied (incorrect).