The Scientific Method:
Controlled Experiments
What is the Control Group, the
Experimental Group, the Independent
Variable and the Dependent Variable of
the following scenarios?
The Tennis Player
Laura is a competitive tennis
player and wants to see if different
temperatures affect the bounciness of the
ball. To test this, she bounces Brand New Ball
A and measures the height of the bounce.
She does this at 45o F, 55o F, 65o F, 75o F, and
85o F. She then takes Brand New Ball B and
bounces it 5 separate times at 75o F.
The Taste Tester
Un Hui loves to cook for her family but wants
to prepare healthy food. She wants to see if
low sodium soy sauce effects the taste of her
family’s favorite dishes. She prepares three
dishes with low sodium soy sauce and the
same three with her normal
soy sauce for her family to test.
Pizza Parties
Rob thinks that if he rewards his
employees with pizza parties that they will
work more efficiently. In the first month, he
conducts business as usual and measures
productivity. Then, he has a pizza party
midway through the next month and then
measures productivity.
The Lawn Mower
Ed loves to mow his lawn but thinks he needs
a new lawn mower. He test drives the Green
Acres lawn mower and examines several
blades of grass. Then he test drives the Blades
of Glory lawn mower and examines several
blades.
Diaper Dilemna
• Mrs. Choe has to determine which diaper will
be most absorbent for her new baby. She is
currently using Pampers, but is considering
switching to Huggies or Costco’s brand.
Develop an experiment that will help Mrs.
Choe decide which diaper brand she should
use.