Name
Date
Period
Can You Spot The Scientific Method?
Each sentence below describes a step of the scientific method. Match each sentence with a step of the
scientific method listed below.
A. recognize a problem
C. test the hypothesis with an experiment
B. form a hypothesis
D. draw conclusions
_____
1.
Stephen predicted that seeds would start to grow faster if an electric current traveled
through the soil in which they were planted.
_____
2.
Susan said, “If I fertilize my geranium plants, they will blossom.”
_____
3.
Jonathan’s data showed that household cockroaches moved away from raw cucumber slices.
_____
4.
Rene grew bacteria from the mouth on special plates in the laboratory. She placed drops of
different mouthwashes on bacteria on each plate.
_____
5.
Kathy used a survey to determine how many of her classmates were left-handed and how many
were right-handed.
_____
6.
Dana wanted to know how synthetic fibers were different from natural fibers.
_____
7.
Jose saw bats catching insects after dark. He asked, “How do bats find the insects in the
dark?”
_____
8.
Arjulia soaked six different kinds of seeds in water for 24 hours. Then she planted the seeds
in soil at a depth of 1 cm. She used the same amount of water, light, and heat for each kind of
seed.
_____
9.
Bob read about growing plants in water. He wanted to know how plants could grow without soil.
_____
10.
Kevin said, “If I grow five seedlings in red light, I think the plants will grow faster than the
five plants grown in white light.”
_____
11.
Angela’s experiment showed that earthworms move away from light.
_____
12.
May stated, “If acid rain affects plants in a particular lake, it might affect small animals, such
as crayfish, that live in the same water.”
_____
13.
Michael fed different diets to three groups of guinea pigs. His experiment showed that guinea
pigs need vitamin C and protein in their diets.
_____
14.
Kim’s experiment showed that chicken egg shells were stronger when she gave the hen feed to
which extra calcium had been added.
Experimental Design Practice
15. John’s parents would not let him study while listening to music in his room. They told him that he
could not concentrate with the background noise. He decided to test this idea with an experiment on
his class. Each Friday his English class took a vocabulary quiz on 25 new words learned that week.
John got his teacher’s permission to try his experiment. On the first Friday of his test he played a
rock song in the classroom while the class took the test. The following week the class took the test
with the normal quiet atmosphere of a classroom. John calculated the average score on the two
vocabulary tests. (Flip over to answer questions!)
a.
Independent Variable _______________________________________
b.
Dependent Variable ________________________________________
c.
Experimental Group ________________________________________
d.
Control Group _____________________________________________
e.
Controlled Variables ________________________________________
16. Use the line graph below to answer the following questions:
a.
Which plant grew the tallest?
Growth of Plants
_____
c.
How many plants grew to be at least
12
6 cm tall? _____
10
Which line represents plant 2?
_____
d.
After 10 days, how much had plant 3
grown?
e.
Growth of Plant (cm)
b.
Plant 1
6
Plant 3
2
What is the independent variable?
0
What is the dependent variable?
Plant 2
4
_______________________
___________________________
f.
8
0
5
10
15
20
Time (Days)
____________________________
17. Scientists planted an equal number of plants in different soil temperatures. After 7 days, they
counted the number of plants still alive. The following data was collected:
Effect of Soil Conditions on Plants
Light Exposure
Soil Temperature
# of Surviving Plants
Medium
25°C
10
Medium
30°C
6
Medium
35°C
2
Medium
40°C
1
a.
Independent Variable _____________________________________
b. Dependent Variable ______________________________________
c.
Experimental Group ______________________________________
d. Controlled Variables ______________________________________
e.
Possible Conclusion _______________________________________
f. Graph the date from the table above.
25