Archimedes School Date: ___________________________

Lesson 4: Worksheet 1 Student’s details

Full name _________________________________
Science | Grade 6
Class _________

Part A: Experimental Design Basics

I. Rules
Experimental investigations are conducted to determine
a cause and effect relationship between two things.

• While scientists study a whole area of science, each investigation is focused on learning just ONE thing at
a time.
• After gathering background research, the next step is to formulate a HYPOTHESIS.
• Each time the test is run during an experimental investigation is called a TRIAL.
• The things that change between trials are called the VARIABLES.
• In an investigation, the scientist changes ONE thing, the cause! This is called THE INDEPENDENT
VARIABLES.
• For the effect, the scientist measures ONE thing! This is called THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE.
• Everything else in the experiment must keep the SAME! These are called THE CONSTANTS or
CONTROLLED VARIABLE.

STEPS TO DESIGN AN EXPERIMENT

Step A – Clarify Variable
What Is Changed? What Stays The Same? What Is Changed?
Testable Question
(Independent Variable) (Controlled Variables) (Dependent Variable)
Step B – List Materials
→ Make a list of materials that will be used in the investigation.
Step C – List Steps
→ List the steps needed to carry out an investigation.
Step D – Estimate time
→ Estimate the time it will take to complete the investigation. Will the data be gathered in one sitting or
over the course of several weeks?
Step E – Check Work
→ Ask someone else to read the procedure to make sure the steps are clear. Are there any steps
missing? Double check the materials list to be sure all the necessary materials are included.
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 II. Examples

a) What is the independent variable in the above picture? The mass that being pulled
b) What is the dependent variable? Force
c) What are the controlled variables? The same sleigh, the same spring scale, and the person will pull on the
scale the same way each time.
d) What was the question of the investigation? How does the mass of an object effect the force needed to pull
it?
e) What is the hypothesis? If an object has a greater mass, then it is required a larger force than a lighter
object in order to move.

III. Practices

a) What is the independent variable in the above picture? ..........................................................................

b) What is the dependent variable? ............................................................................................................
c) What are the controlled variables? .........................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................................
d) What was the question of this investigation? ..........................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................................
e) What is the hypothesis? .........................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................................

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 B: Hypothesis writing practice
I. Rules

A hypothesis is a possible explanation for observations,

or an educated guess about what you think will happen in your experiment.

A hypothesis should be
1. ‘If …, then …, because …’ statement
2. Testable and measurable
3. Able to be proven true or false
4. You will be able to design and conduct an experiment to prove or disprove the hypothesis

• IF…tells the readers what will be changed – the independent variable in the investigation.
• THEN… tells the reader the possible results of that change. This is the responding (dependent) variable
in the investigation.
• BECAUSE… tells the reader how you know this will occur. It should be based on your observation and
background research.

II. Examples
• If ice is placed in a Styrofoam container, then it will take longer to melt than if placed in a glass container.
→ Dependent variable: the time it takes for ice to melt
→ Independent variable: the type of container
• If you drop a ball, then it will fall toward the ground, because of gravity.
→ Dependent variable: ........................................................................................................................
→ Independent variable: ......................................................................................................................
• If the water is stirred, then the sugar will dissolve faster, because stirring makes sugar contact the water
more.
• If 7th graders and 8th graders complete the same math problems, then the 8th graders will have more
answers correct, because they have studied math for one year longer than the 7th graders.
• If some students eat breakfast before school and others do not, then the ones who do eat breakfast will
have better grades in their morning classes, because their brains have more energy to think.
• If standing up required more physical effort than lying down, then one’s pulse standing up will be faster
than one’s pulse lying down.

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 III. Practices
Question 1. The cooler the temperature in a lake, the more oxygen the water holds. Tung notices that he
catches more fish in a lake that is cooler than 15 degrees Celsius. He wants to conduct a study so he can
catch the most fish possible this year. What will be his hypothesis?
Hypothesis: If ............................................................................................................ (independent variable)
then ..........................................................................................................................(dependent variable)
because .......................................................................................................................................................

Question 2. An experiment was carries out to determine the time it takes for different volumes of water to
boil. Identical breakers were filled with different volumes of water. Identical heaters were used to heat up
the water in each beaker. The time taken for the water to boil in each beaker was recorded. What is the
hypothesis here?
Hypothesis: If ............................................................................................................ (independent variable)
then ..........................................................................................................................(dependent variable)

Question 3. What effect does the water temperature have on how fast sugar dissolves?
Hypothesis: If ..............................................................................................................................................
then .........................................................................................................................................................

Question 4. Son notice that different ping-pong balls bounced to different heights when they are dropped
from the same height. However, all the ping-pong balls have the same size. What can Son’s hypothesis
be?
a) What are the factors that affect the ability to bounce of ping-pong balls? .................................................
....................................................................................................................................................................
b) Hypothesis: If ...................................................................................................... (independent variable)
then ..........................................................................................................................(dependent variable)

Question 5. Trees of the same species and of the same age on both sides of a road are of different heights.
The trees on the left side of the road are shorter than the trees on the right.
a) What are the factors that affect the height of trees? ................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................................
b) Hypothesis: If ........................................................................................................................................
then .........................................................................................................................................................

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Question 6. The paint on a wall of a room is more faded than the paint on the other walls.
a) What are the factors that affect the longevity of paints? ..........................................................................
b) Hypothesis: If ........................................................................................................................................
then .........................................................................................................................................................

Question 7. Marie went to a pet store to buy mouse feed for her two pet mice. She bough a packet of
processed grain and a packet of unprocessed grain. Her two mice had the same weight. She fed both
mice different types of the same amount of food. Mouse A was given processed grain, and Mouse B
unprocessed grain. Once every two days, Marie weighted the mice before giving them food. She
recorded their weights over a period of three months. At the end of the experiment, Marie found the
mice to have different body weights.
a) Hypothesis: If ........................................................................................................................................
then .......................................................................................................................................................
b) What was the variable that Marie changed?.............................................................................................
c) What was the variable that Marie observed, as a result of the change in the variable in (b)? ......................
..............................................................................................................................................................
d) What conditions did Marie keep the same during the experiment? ...........................................................

Question 8. To obtain accurate results during experiments, we often repeat experiments and then find the
average of the results. Below are various readings of mass against time for an experiment.

Time Mass (g) Average result (g)

(min) 1st result 2nd result 3rd results (round to the nearest hundredth)

2.4 + 2.2 + 2.6

1:00 2.4 2.2 2.6 = 2.40
3

2:00 3.0 3.0 3.3

3:00 3.8 1.8 3.6

4:00 4.2 4.8 4.5

a) Complete the final column for the average result in the table.
b) One of the measurements in the table has been misread and should be ignored. Circle this result.
c) Which instruments in the school laboratory accurately measure mass? ....................................................

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