Transcript Scientific Variables

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Scientific Method
 The series of steps that scientists use to answer
questions and solve problems
 not a rigid procedure. Scientists may use all or just some
of the steps of the scientific method.
 They may even repeat some of the steps.
 The goal of the scientific method is to come up with
reliable answers and solutions.
 Make sure only one problem is being studied.
State the Problem
(What are you trying to figure out?)
 Be specific about what the question is
Ex.
How many licks does it take to get to the
center of a Tootsie pop?
Background Research
 (Find information about your topic
using as many sources as possible)
 Make observations about the situation
 Make observations about the materials
 Do research about the problem (library, internet,
interviews)
Form a Hypothesis
 (An educated guess)
 Should be written as an “If… then….
because…” statement
 Must be based on your research and
observations
 If I lick a tootsie pop _____ times, then I should reach
the Tootsie center.
Experimental Design
 (Test your hypothesis)
 Includes the following

Scientific Variables
 Independent Variable- The factor that is changed
by the scientist. There is only one per experiment.

Dependent Variable(s) - The factor that is
measured by the scientist during the experiment.
There can be more than one dependent variable
per experiment.

Controlled Variable(s) - The factors that must not
change during your experiment. There is usually
more than one factor that needs to be controlled in
an experiment.
Scientific Variables
Review
Practice Independent
Variables
Experimental Design cont’d
Materials- A list of what you need to
conduct your experiment. Be specific!
 Procedure- Explain how to do the
experiment.
 Write as a numbered list, not as a
paragraph
 Provide complete, step-by-step
instructions. Be specific!
 Do not use personal pronouns such as I,
you, or we

Results

(Record you data and review or analyze it)
 All data should be presented in a data table
 Data should be graphed when appropriate
with the correct type of graph
 Be sure to title all data tables and graphs!
 Don’t forget your T.A.I.L.S !
 You can use a graphing computer program or
graph paper
 NO FREE HAND GRAPHS!!!!!!
 Watch your T.A.I.L.S.
 T- title (y-axis vs. X-axis)
2pts
 A- Axes (draw both axes – x- axis is horizontal, y-axis is
vertical
1 pt
 I -Intervals (the numbers you will use on each of your
axes)
2pt
 L- Labels (titles for your x- and y- axes including units
of measurements)
4pts
 S- Spacing(the spaces between each of the number on
your axes has to be consistent) 1pt.
Conclusion
 (Explain what happened and why)
 Restate the problem/question you were testing and
your hypothesis
 Explain the results of your experiment and state if
your hypothesis was supported or not. Include data!
 Explain the significance of your results. How does
this affect people? What did you learn from
completing this lab?
 Explain what you would you do differently if you
could do this experiment over again? Why would
you choose to do this?
Tootsie Pop lab conclusion
 The purpose of this lab is to reinforce the steps of the scientific method, using the
“Tootsie pop lab”. Also, to determine how many licks it takes to get to the center of
the tootsie pop. I predicted that it would take 365 lick to get to the tootsie center. My
hypothesis was incorrect.
From my investigation I performed three trials and received different number of
licks every time. For example trial 1 =234 licks, trial 2=567 licks and trial =102 licks. I
drank water before each trial. This could have affected the results.
Data was collected from the group and graphed. The graph show a large difference
in their numbers as well. This could be due to a number of things such as, different
tongue sizes, the amount of saliva on each tongue etc. In future investigations I would
like to control the tongue size, and drink no water between trials.
I conclude that the world may never know !
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