SPS

SOLAF
VOLUME 1

2014

JPN PERAK

SPS

SOLAF
VOLUME 1

2014

A variable is something that can vary or change

The variables are:

manipulated (independent) variable or What To Change ( WTC )

responding (dependent) variable or What To Observe/Measure ( WTO )
constant (fixed) variable or What To Keep The Same ( SAME )

What to observe/measure (WTO) Responding Variable

- Thing that is being OBSERVED / MEASURED /INVESTIGATED /
RECORDED / THE RESULT of an investigation.
What to change (WTC) - Manipulated Variable
- Thing that is CHANGED (different) or being manipulated in
an investigation and it has an effect on thing that is
observed.
What to keep the same
- Thing that is always the SAME (unchanged) and kept
constant in an investigation.
Recognising variables (WTC, WTO and SAME) in the investigations
Example 1.
WTC

Number of bulb
3
2
1

Brightness of the bulb

Bright
Brighter
Brightest

WTO

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Example 2.

2014

WTC
Temperature / C
The volume of water left / ml

WTO

Example3.

28C

45C

20

15

WTO

The numbers of chest

movement in a minute.
80
70
60
50
40
30
WTC
20
10
20

40

60

80

100

Running distance /
metre

Example 4.
WTC

A group of pupils carried out a fair test to find out the movement of toy cars using
different number of wheels but of the same size. The distance traveled by the
toy cars are measured.
Size of the wheels

WTO

What to keep
the same
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SPS

SOLAF
VOLUME 1

2014

Example 5.
Diagram shows two circuits that were prepared by Amiruddin in an investigation

Diagram shows two different

circuits series circuit and
parallel circuit. Therefore the
thing that change is the TYPE
OF CIRCUIT (WTC)

Bulb R
Bulb S
Bulb P

Bulb Q

Below is an observation that is recorded by Amiruddin.

Observation : The bulbs in circuit X are brighter than the bulbs in circuit

Brightness of the bulb

What to keep the same: Number/ Type of batteries

Number / Type of bulbs

WTO

Refer to the diagram

Note: For every variable, it is important to write the parameter

and
the object together.
Example:

Size of the toy car

The parameter

The object

Parameter
Amount
Size
Number
Quantity
Height
Width
Mass

The sentence
The
The
The
The
The
The
The

amount of _______________
size of ___________________
number of _______________
quantity of _______________
height of _________________
width of __________________
mass of __________________
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2014

Parameter
Time
Distance
Presence
Condition
Temperature
Hotness
Ability
Thickness
Strength
Stability
Quality
Type
Brightness
Shape
Movement
Roughness
Smoothness
Base area
Area
Location
Position
Diameter
Colour
Direction
Duration
Part
Growth
Volume
Length
Speed

The sentence
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The

time taken of ______________

distance of ________________
presence of _______________
condition of _______________
temperature of ____________
hotness of ________________
ability of _________________
thickness of _______________
strength of ________________
stability of ________________
quality of _________________
type of ___________________
brightness of _______________
shape of __________________
movement of _______________
roughness of _______________
smoothness of ______________
base area of _______________
area of ___________________
location of ________________
position of ________________
diameter of _______________
colour of _________________
direction of _______________
duration of _______________
part of __________________
growth of ________________
volume of ________________
length of _________________
speed of _________________

JPN PERAK

SPS

SOLAF
VOLUME 1

2014

Question samples:
a)

Based on the investigation, state:

i)
ii)

what to change / thing to change :

what to observe / thing to observe/measure

b) State what to change in the investigation above

c) Write down two variables from the investigation above:
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
d) From the data given, identify what to:
i)
ii)
iii)

keep the same :

to change :
to observe/measure :

e) State what is kept the same in the investigation.

f)

Write two information based on the investigation above.

g) State two information gathered in the investigation above.

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SPS

SOLAF
VOLUME 1

2014

EXERCISES
1.

Razak, Kamila and Suresh conduct a study to determine the relationship between the
distance of the light source from the object and the size of the shadow. They record
their observations in the following table.
Distance of light source
from object (cm)
6
10
14
18
a.

Size of shadow (cm)

16
X
8
6

Based on the result above, state:

i. What to change (manipulated variable)

ii. What to observe (responding variable)

2.

Three containers R,S and T, containing equal amounts of garden soil are planted with
bean seedlings of the same height. The seedlings are planted 5 cm from each other.
The container are left in the open and watered with the same amount of water daily.
After three weeks the average height of the seedlings in the containers are taken. The
results are shown in the table.
Container

Number of seedlings

P
Q
R
In the investigation, state

3
6
9

Average height of seedlings

(cm)
16
12
8

i. what is being changed

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ii. what is being measured

iii. what is kept the same

Four white mice are put into cage M and 12 into cage N. The cages are of similar
size. In each cage, the number of males and females are the same . The mice in cage
N are given the same amount of food and water as the mice in cage M each day. Each
of the mice in the cage M and N is weighed after 3 weeks. The average weight of the
mice in each cage is obtained.

3.

Cage
M
N
a.

Number of mice
4
12

Average mass of the mice

72 g
50 g

In the investigation above, state

i.

What is being changed

ii.

what is being measured

iii.

what is kept the same

..

4. The table below shows the time taken by four pupils to complete their Mathematics test.
Pupil
Rafiq
Akmal
Danish
Azhar

Time taken to complete the test ( minute )

5
10
20
12

a) In this activity,
i)

What is kept the same : ______________________________________________

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2014

ii)

What is measured

: ______________________________________________

iii)

What is being changed : _____________________________________________

5. In an investigation, three axes with different widths are used to chop wood. The table
below shows the results of the investigation.
Axe
Width of the back of the blade (mm)
Number of wooden block chopped in 30 minutes
a.

P
3
4

Q
6
8

R
9
12

What is kept the same in this investigation?

.

b.

State two variables from the investigation above.

i) .
ii)

6. An investigation is carried out to study the relationship between consumers and their
sources of food in a habitat. It involved rats and snakes in a paddy field. The observations
in the investigation are recorded in the following table.
Week
Number of snake
Number of rats
a.

1
9
48

2
14
38

3
18
32

4
23
22

In the investigation, state

i.

What is being changed

ii.

what is being measured

iii.

what is kept the same

7. The table shows an observation in an experiment conducted by a few pupils.

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VOLUME 1

2014

Four objects with different height were used to support the slotted weight.
Object
Mass that can be
supported(g )

P
50

Q
100

R
150

S
200

a) State the
i)

Manipulated variable :__________________________________

ii)
Responding variable : _________________________________
8. 100ml of water is poured in a boiling tube and the temperature of water is measured.
Then, the water is heated every 2 minutes until the minute of 6.
Water temperature(C)

Time (minute)

Based on the result shown in the bar chart:

a) State the thing that is kept the same.

b) State two information gathered from the investigation above.

.

9. The bar chart in diagram below shows the area of forest cleared from 2003 to 2007.

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Area of forest
cleared (hectares)

Year

(a) State:
i. what to change: ..
ii. what to observe:
10. A group of pupils are asked to construct three tower models of equal height using manila
cards. The three models constructed by the group are shown in table below.
Model X

Model Y

Model Z

Each model is placed on an inclined plane to investigate its stability. The results of the
study is observed as below .
Model Y is the first to topple, followed by model X. Model Z does not topple
a. Based on the investigation above, state the following
i. Thing to change (manipulated variable)
.
ii. Thing to keep the same (constant variable)

11. Maya carry out a fair test. Two mice are kept separately in two containers as shown in
diagram below. Both containers are left for a week.

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a)

2014

State the following:

i) What to change..............
ii) What to measure................

b)

What must be kept the same in the fair test above?

12. A student carried out an experiment to show that sunlight is a basic need of plants. Both of
the plants were placed at the same location.

State what must be :

i) changed .
ii) measured
iii) kept the same
13. The diagram below shows the phases of the Moon from the first to the
fifteenth day based on the lunar calendar.
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a)

2014

What to keep the same in the investigation above?

.

b)

What is observed in the investigation above?

.

14. Selvi pours 100 ml of fresh milk and 100 ml of shampoo in to two beakers respectively. She
records the time taken for each liquid to flow completely.
milk

shampoo

Time = 2 seconds

a)

Time = 8 seconds

State two information gathered.

i

ii
15. A group of pupils arranged three models as shown in the diagram below
to investigate the stability of the models.
models of polystyrene

cardboard

When the cardboard was inclined slowly, the pupils recorded their observations as follows:
i. Model Z toppled over first, followed by model Y.
ii. Model Y toppled over first, followed by model X.
Based on the investigation above, state :
i. what is changed:
ii. what is kept the same :
iii. what is observed.: ..
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SOLAF
VOLUME 1

2014

156 Diagram 8 shows an investigation carried out by a group of pupils.

young plants

flower pot

Based on the fair test above, state

i. what is changed
..
ii. what to observe

iii. what is kept the same.

17. In an investigation, a group of pupils used a spring-powered toy car as shown below

The table below shows their observations

Number of the
spring is wound
3
5
7

Distanced traveled
(cm)
40
40
40

Time taken
(second)
10
8
6

State two variables in this investigation

..
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2014

..
18. Jeane carries out an investigation by rolling three balls of different mass down an inclined
plane. The balls would hit a wooden block and the distance the block moves is recorded.
ball

Wooden
block
Incline plane

The table below shows the result of the experiment.

Ball
K
L
M

Mass of the ball (g)

100
200
300

Distance the wooden block moves (cm)

6.5
8.0
10.3

From this investigation, state

i)

what to change : ..

ii)

what to measure :

19. An investigation has been carried out by Khairi on three different liquids J,K and L. The
results of the investigations shown in the table below.
Type of liquid
Effect on litmus paper
J
Blue litmus paper changes to red
K
Red litmus paper changes to blue
L
No changes of red and blue litmus paper
From the result of the fair test above, state :
i)

What to change : ..

ii)

What to observe : ..

20. Dinie tries to break two rulers of the same size but made up of different materials. Her
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observations are recorded in the following table. Answer the following questions.

Plastic ruler

Steel ruler

Type of ruler
Plastic ruler
Steel ruler

Observation
Can be broken
Cannot be broken

a) State the thing that is

i)

changed : _____________________________________________________

ii)

observed :_____________________________________________________

21. The diagram below shows the harvesting method.

Harvesting method

Land size of harvesting

(hectar)

Human labour

1.5

Harvesting machine

State the thing that is

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i)

2014

changed : _____________________________________________________

ii) observed :_____________________________________________________

22. The figure below shows two activities X and Y that are carried out by Faizal. Activity X
shows the heaviest object that Faizal can lift without using any pulley. Activity Y shows the
heaviest object that Faizal can lift using one pulley.

Activity X

Activity Y

The observation of the investigation is as follows :

Activity

Number of pulley

X
Y

0
1

The weight of object that

can be lifted
7 kg
14 kg

a) In this investigation, state the thing that is

i)

changed :
___________________________

ii)
measured :
23. A group of pupils carried out an investigation to find of if microorganisms can grow. They
sprinkled a piece of bread with a few drops of water. The bread was left in a plastic bag for
three weeks. The bar chart shows the result obtained.
Number of black patches
20
15
10
5

Week

0
1

(a)

Based on the chart, state the following,

i.
Things to change (manipulated variable)

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2014

ii.

.
Things to observe (responding variable)

iii.

Thing to keep the same (constant variable)

24.

Samy and his friends are carrying out an investigation.

Diagram 1 (i) shows Samy is trying to move a load by using a lever. He finds it is difficult
to move the load.

Diagram 6 (i)
Samy moves the fulcrum closer to the load as shown in Diagram 1 (ii).
Then he finds that it is easier to move the load.

Diagram 6 (ii)
a) Based on the experiment, state two variables
i) .
ii). .
b) What to keep the same in the experiment.
.

25. Scientists carry out an investigation to study the temperatures on the different planets and
their distances from the Sun. Their findings are as follows:

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2014

Planet P
Planet Q

very high temperature

very low temperature

Based on the investigation above, state

(i) What to change: .
(ii) What to observe: .

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