Name: ______________________________________
Date: ________________________
Go to: http://www.explorelearning.com/
Print this assignment.
Select Login and use your username and password that you set up for our last Gizmo. If you do not remember your
username and password, you can select “Enroll in a Class.” Enter: FC57PQTTN3 as the class code. Select the “Effect of
Environment on New Life Form” Gizmo and follow the directions below.
Student Exploration: Effect of Environment on New Life Form
Vocabulary: controlled experiment, hypothesis, variable
Prior Knowledge Question (Do this BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
Johnny likes to watch the birds that visit his birdfeeder. His favorite bird is the cardinal. How could Johnny determine
which kind of birdseed cardinals prefer? Explain your answer in detail.
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Gizmo Warm-up
In this Effect of the Environment on a New Life Form Gizmo, you will evaluate how a variety of factors influence
individuals within a population. You are in control of the environmental conditions for a fictional alien organism, and will
evaluate how those conditions affect the organism. You will be examining how sunlight, water and temperature affect
the shape of the aliens.
1. The new life form can have three shapes: thin, medium, and thick. How many of
each shape are there now?
Thin: _______
2. Click Play (
Medium: _______
Thick: _______
). Do the numbers of each type of alien change over time? ______________
3. Click Reset (
). A variable is something that can be changed in an experiment. Look on the SIMULATION pane.
What are the three variables you can change in your laboratory?
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4. Which of these variables do you think will have the greatest effect on the aliens? Explain.
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Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity:
Controlling variables
 Click Reset.
 Select the BAR CHART tab.
 Turn on Show numerical values.
Question: What variables control the shape of the alien life forms?
5. Record: Record the starting numbers of thin, medium, and thick aliens:
Thin: _______
Medium: _______
Thick: _______
6. Observe: Change the Sunlight to 0 hours/day, the Water to 1 drops/hr, and the Temp to
0°C. Click Play, and observe the aliens until the numbers are stable. Click Pause.
i.
How many of each type of alien are there now?
Thin: _______
ii.
Medium: _______
Thick: _______
Click Reset. Change the Sunlight to 24 hours/day, the Water to 20 drops/hr, and the Temp to 30°C. Click
Play. How many of each type of alien are there now?
Thin: _______
Medium: _______
Thick: _______
7. Analyze: At this point, can you make any conclusions about what is having an effect on the aliens shape? Explain
why or why not.
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8. When performing an experiment, why is it important to test only one factor at a time?
9. Form a hypothesis: A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for an observation. Hypotheses must be testable.
Write a hypothesis about what causes the aliens to change their shape.
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10. Design an experiment: A controlled experiment is an experiment in which only one variable is changed at a
time.
Describe a controlled experiment you could use to test your hypothesis. ________________
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11. Based on these observations, which variables are not having an effect on alien size?
12. Based on these observations, which variable is having an effect on alien size?
13. Write a statement that demonstrates the relationship between the variable mentioned in your answer to
number 11 and alien size.
14. Run the Gizmo: Run controlled experiments to determine the effect of each variable.
i.
How does changing the amount of sunlight affect the aliens? ___________________
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ii.
How does changing the amount of water affect the aliens? ____________________
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iii.
How does changing the temperature affect the aliens? ________________________
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15. Draw conclusions: Which variable or variables affected the aliens? ____________________
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16. Think and discuss: Why is it important to only change one variable at a time? If possible, discuss your answer
with your classmates and teacher.
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17. Form a hypothesis about why it would be advantageous for these two variables to be related this way. Can you
think of any real life examples where this type of relationship would be
useful?______________________________________________________________________________________
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18. If you were a scientist in the real world, examining a real life organism in nature, why might it be difficult to test
what factors have an effect on the shape of the
organism?______________________________________________________________________________________
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19. Historically, there have been a number of adaptations that organisms have developed to deal with their
environment. Explain one of these cases and how the adaptation helped the organism to survive.
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20. Think of three other organisms that exhibit a similar response to their environment and explain how the
response affects their survival rate.
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