Name: ________________________________________ Date: ___________ Period: ___

Experimental Design and Graphing Review

Definitions: Define the following words and concepts related to the scientific method.

1. Hypothesis:

a. How should a hypothesis be written?

2. Independent Variable:

3. Dependent Variable:

4. Control Group:

5. Experimental Groups:

6. Constants:

7. What is the appropriate format for a scientific title?

Read the situation below and design an experiment.

John Smith has been hired by the city of Virginia Beach to investigate the recent shark attacks off the resort’s
coast. He has a budget of $40,000, a 25 foot boat, and three graduate student assistants to help him. A
helicopter has also been donated by a local television station, should he need one.

1. List 2 hypotheses John and his crew may have come up with for the recent shark attacks.
a. If_____________________________________, then ______________________________________

b. If_____________________________________, then ______________________________________

2. What materials will John need to perform this experiment (How will they spend the $40,000?).
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Where should they perform the experiment (Hint: Where do sharks like to live)?_______________________

4. Pick one of the two hypotheses and determine the following:

a. Control Group: _____________________________________________________________________

b. Experimental Group: ________________________________________________________________

c. Dependent Variable:
_________________________________________________________________

d. Independent Variable: _______________________________________________________________

e. Contstants: _________________________________________________________________
 Name: ________________________________________ Date: ___________ Period: ___

5. What type of data do you think John will collect (What will be the results of the experiment?)?
__________________________________________________________________________________________

6. What conclusions will John be able to make from the results of the experiment?
__________________________________________________________________________________________

In the statements below, write the hypothesis, variable, control groups and experimental groups.
1. Plants grow best in white light.

Hypothesis: If___________________________________, then ______________________________________

Independent Variable: _____________________________ Dependent Variable: ________________________

Control Group: __________________________________ Constants: ________________________________

2. The deer population decreases in the winter due to the lack of food.

Hypothesis: If___________________________________, then ______________________________________

Independent Variable: _____________________________ Dependent Variable: ________________________

Control Group: __________________________________ Constants: ________________________

Read the following situations and answer the following questions.

1. Suzie Q wants to know the effect of different colors of light on the growth of plants. She believes that
plants can survive best in white light. She buys 5 ferns of the same species, which are all approximately
the same age and height. She places one in white light, one in blue light, one in green light, one in red
light and one in the closet. All of the ferns are planted in Miracle-Grow and given 20 mL of water once
a day for 2 weeks. After the two weeks, Suzie observes the plants and makes measurements.

Hypothesis: If___________________________________, then ______________________________________

Independent Variable: _____________________________ Dependent Variable: ________________________

Control Group: __________________________________ Experimental Group: ________________________

Constants: ______________________________________________________________________

2. The local high school recently passed a rule reducing how much teachers can count homework as part of
a student’s grade. Consequently, a larger portion of the students stop doing their homework. A teacher
there decides to conduct an experiment. All of his classes get an optional “test guide” to help them
study for their tests. He allows two classes to use the “test guides” (that they must fill in and complete)
on their exams. He hypothesizes that students will complete the test guides and learning will occur from
filling them out. In his other 2 classes, the teacher does not allow students to use test guides on the
 Name: ________________________________________ Date: ___________ Period: ___
exam, and consequently very few of them filled them out. After the 2018-2019 year is over, he wants to
compare scores between the 4 classes on the final exam to see if allowing students to use test guides
during each test throughout the year improved their later overall performance.

Hypothesis: If___________________________________, then ______________________________________

Independent Variable: _____________________________ Dependent Variable: ________________________

Control Group: __________________________________ Experimental Group: ________________________

Constants: ______________________________________________________________________

Deconstruct an Experiment – 15-year-old scares away garden-eating slugs

Carefully read the information about the experiment and then answer the questions:

A May 16, 2014, article at the ScienceNewsforStudents website of the Society for Science and the Public
explains how 15 year-old Katie Gwalteny of Georgia tested her own idea of how to discourage grey garden
slugs from eating her plants. Katie wanted a humane way to deter the slugs without harming the plants or soil in
her backyard garden. Through researching slug behavior she realized that she might be able to take advantage
of their territorial behavior. Here is a summary of her experiment:

First Katie collected many grey garden slugs from her garden. Then she bought 50 strawberry plants – a plant
that these slugs are known to eat. She divided the plants into two groups. One group had plain water poured
over them and the other group had slug-slimy water poured over them. Katie made slug-slimy water by having
some of the slugs crawl all over filter paper; as the slugs move around they leave a slime trail on the paper.
Then she poured water through the filter paper and collected the now slimy-slug water in a container. Next,
Katie placed a slug in each pot. She recorded whether the slug moved toward or away from the strawberry
plant. Her results were that around 50% of slugs moved towards the plain-water plants; however, only 5% of
the slugs moved toward the slug-slimy-water plants.

1. Independent Variable (what was changed in the experiment)

_____________________________________________________________________________

2. Dependent Variable (what was measured in the experiment)

_____________________________________________________________________________

3. Is there a control group in this experiment? If yes, explain what it is:

_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

4. Describe the experimental group.

_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
 Name: ________________________________________ Date: ___________ Period: ___

5. How many trials were conducted? ____________

6. Write an experimental question for this research – the question must include the independent and dependent
variables.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

7. After forming an experimental question it is time to construct a hypothesis about what you think could be the
outcome of the experiment. A formal hypothesis shows the potential relationship between the dependent
variable and the independent variable. Fill in the blanks to complete a plausible formal hypothesis for this
experiment:

8. In order to be able to establish if there is a relationship between slug-slime on

plant leaves and slug behavior many variables had to be held constant throughout
the experiment. In the space provided, list 3 variables that would need to be held
constant regarding the slugs and the plants.
Plant Constants Slug Constants

9. The article does not tell us for how long Katie waited after pouring slug-slime or plain water over the plants
to test whether the slugs would move toward or away from the plant. Explain how the length of time between
the two events could possibly affect the results.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

10. Katie conducted 25 trials for each type of water poured over the plants. Look back at the percentages of
slugs that did not move toward the strawberry plants. Imagine that she had only used 5 plants for the control
group and experimental group. Do you think she would have collected reliable data to make any conclusions
 Name: ________________________________________ Date: ___________ Period: ___
about the efficacy of her slug-slime water?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

12. This technique seemed to work for grey garden slugs (Deroceras reticulatum), does this mean that the same
technique could be used to deter all species of slug that are garden pests? Explain your answer.
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________

Graphing Practice

1.
Name: ________________________________________ Date: ___________ Period: ___

2. Using the graph to the right, answer the following questions:

a. Which type of graph is
pictured?
_________________
b. On day 12, how tall was the
plant kept in the sun for 3
hours?
_________________
c. According to the graph, what is
the most idea; daily amount of
sunlight for sunflowers?
_________________

3. Write a proper scientific data analysis for the graph below.

4. The scatter plot below represents the line of people waiting for the bus stop
plotted by their age and height. Identify which dot goes with which passenger.
Name: ________________________________________ Date: ___________ Period: ___
5. The ______________________ variable is what is being measured in a graph.
6. The ______________________ variable is what is being changed (manipulated) in your
graph.
7. Typically, the x-axis includes the ________________ variable, and the y-axis includes
the _______________________ variable.
8. If one variable increases, and the other decreases, this is known as a/n
____________________________ relationship.
9. If both variables increase or decrease together, this is known as a/n
____________________ relationship.