the scientific method: a look at the experimental variables and a hypothesis
TRANSCRIPT
The Scientific Method:
A look at the experimental variables and a hypothesis
What is an “experiment?
• In school “experiment” often gets applied to any hands on activities.
• We have not completed any true experiments so far this year.
• We will have several hands on experiences but only a few experiments.
What is a true “experiment”?
• A science experiment tests a hypothesis following a procedure or set of steps
• In order to write a hypothesis you need to understand experimental groups and variables
Experimental Groups/ConditionsManipulated group (M)(aka manipulated condition)• It is what you are testing to
see if it has an effect• You test only one variable at
a time • Has the manipulated
variable applied to it
Sometimes called the test condition or group as well
Control group (C)(aka control condition)
• The group that does not have the manipulated variable applied to it
• Used to compare to the manipulated
• If there is a difference between the manipulated and the control then the manipulated variable influenced the results
Does Miracle-Gro® make a plant grow taller?
Experimental Question:
What would the experimental conditions be?
Manipulated Condition• Applying Miracle-Gro®
fertilizer to plants
Control Group• Plants that do not have
Miracle-Gro® applied to them
Experimental Variables
In order to set up the experimental groups you need to understand the variables:• Manipulated• Responding• Standardized (sometimes called controlled
variables)
Manipulated Variable (MV)
• This is what the experimenter changes to see if it has an effect
In the Miracle-Gro® experiment what is our manipulated variable?
Responding Variable (RV)
• This is what you will measure• It is called the responding variable because it
is the “response” you expect to get from the change you made
• You can use both qualitative and quantitative observations to observe the response
What would the responding variable be?
Standardized Variables (SV)
• These are all of the things that are kept the same between the test groups/conditions in the experiment
What should the standardized variables be in this experiment?
What is a hypothesis?
A prediction of what you think will happen as a result of the changes you made in the experiment:• Do you think the manipulated variable will
have an affect?• How do you think it will affect the responding
variable?
How to write a hypothesis
• You need to write your hypothesis in an if, then, because statement
If….
• The if part of your statement should explain to your reader the experiment setup. It needs to answer the following:
• What is your manipulated group?• What is your control group?
Example: If we apply miracle grow fertilizer to half of the plants and no fertilizer to the others
Then….
• The then part of your statement explains what you think will happen
• You should explain what you expect to see in terms of the responding variable.
Example:Then the plants that have the fertilizer will grow taller than the plants that do not have fertilizer
Because…• Your hypothesis should be an educated guess• The because part of the statement explains or
justifies why you believe the experiment should turn out in this way
• It should be based on prior knowledge or research
Example: Because miracle is advertised to make plants grow taller
Putting the parts together
If we apply miracle grow fertilizer to half of the plants and no fertilizer to the others Then the plants that have the fertilizer will grow taller than the plants that do not have fertilizerBecause miracle is advertised to make plants grow taller