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Research 1
Quarter 2 – Module 1:
Integrated Science Process
Skills (Part 1)
Defining and Identifying
Variables

NORALA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

Poblacion, Norala, South Cotabato
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Introductory Message
Research 1 for Grade 7 is a course in the Special Science Program designed to
equip learners with essential scientific attitudes and science process skills that will
prepare them in conducting science investigations. These skills include observing,
measuring, inferring, classifying, predicting, communicating, formulating research
problems, formulating hypothesis, defining and identifying variables, describing
relationships between variables, designing an investigation, experimenting and writing
simple scientific report. This simple science investigation shall be confined within the
school premises. This course provides an excellent groundwork or pre requisite
background for higher research work.

For the learner:

Welcome to the Research 7 Self-Learning Module (SLM) on Integrated Science Process
Skills (Part 1): Defining and Identifying Variables.

The following are some reminders in using this module:

1. Use the module with care. Do not put unnecessary mark/s on any part of the
module. Use your notebook in answering the exercises/activities.
2. Don’t forget to answer all the exercises/activities included in the module.
3. Read the instruction carefully before doing each task.
4. Observe honesty and integrity in doing the tasks and checking your answers.
5. Finish the task at hand before proceeding to the next activity.

If you encounter any problem or difficulty in answering the tasks, do not hesitate to
consult your teacher. Always remember that you are not alone.
I hope that through this material, you will experience meaningful learning and gain
deeper understanding of the most relevant competencies. You can do it.

CONTENT STANDARD
The learner demonstrates understanding of the integrated science process skills such
as describing relationships of variables in research, developing scientific questions,
formulating hypotheses which are needed in planning an experiment.

PERFORMANCE STANDARD
The learner should be able to design simple science experiment using the identified
variables on a researchable problem.

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LEARNING COMPETENCIES

The learner should be able to

a. identify variables in a problem (SSP-RS7- IPS-1Ih-9)
b. distinguish variables depending on their uses in planning a simple science
experiment (SSP-RS7- IPS-1Ih-i-10)

What I Need to Know

To come up with meaningful results during an activity, some factors may

be considered. There are factors which are controlled and kept constant and
others may be changed or manipulated. Through these processes, the students
are expected to:
a. define variables operationally;
b. enumerate and describe the types of variables, and
c. identify the controlled, dependent and independent variables.

What I Know

Direction: Read and understand the questions. Write the letter of the correct
answer in your notebook.

1. Which of the following is the factor that affects the result of the activity?
a. control c. manipulated
b. dependent d. variable

2. Which isolates the effect of one variable while holding all other variables the
same for all?
a. control c. manipulated
b. dependent d. variable

3. You want to find out if temperature affects the growth of the orchid plant.
Which is the controlled variable?
a. amount of the fertilizer c. species of the orchid
b. amount of the water d. all of the above

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For items 4-5, refer to the paragraph below.
Maria learned that powdered detergent soap is better than the bar soap in
removing stain. She wants to try if the news gathered is reliable.

4. What is the manipulated variable?

a. amount of detergent soap c. kind of detergent soap
b. fragrance of the detergent soap d. name of the detergent soap

5. What is the dependent variable?

a. amount of detergent soap c. kind of detergent soap
b. amount of stain removed d. kind of stain

6. Which answers the question what factor will I kept constant or the same?
a. control c. independent variable
b. controlled variable d. dependent variable

7. Which factor may be changed during the activity?

a. control c. independent variable
b. controlled variable d. dependent variable

8. What factors do I want to observe or measure?

a. control c. independent variable
b. controlled variable d. dependent variable

For items 9-10, refer to the situation below.

Your mother wants to investigate the effectiveness of the dish washing
soap used in your kitchen.

9. What could be the independent variable?

a. amount of soap c. color of the soap
b. brand of the soap d. container of the soap

10. Which is/are the controlled variables?

I. amount of soap II. Brand of soap
III. color of the soap IV. Container of the soap

a. I only b. II and III c. III and IV d. II,III,IV

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 Research 1
Lesson Integrated Science Process
1 Skills (Part 1): Defining and
Identifying Variables

Learning Objectives:

a. define variables operationally,

b. enumerate and describe the types of variables, and
c. identify the controlled, dependent and independent variables.

What’s In

Activity 1: Hide & Seek

Direction: Find all the hidden words in the puzzle. To find the hidden
words, search up, down, forward, backward and diagonally. To make
the game more interesting, try to solve the puzzle in the shortest time
possible. WITHIN TIME FRAME OF 3 MINUTES 5 out of 5 : Outstanding
4 : Excellent 3 : Good 1-2 : Average

M O S K R E C A N G
W V A R I A B L E O
I D T H X M A S D L
N T N A T S N O C O
D O G D U R S D O L
E E N A B C D E N G
P E P L O R W N T C
E Q R E E U V E R Y
N Z Z Y N N V N O S
D R Q O O D D E L J
E I H G E D E E A B
N N B C D E F N N I
T J K L M N O T T T

1. CONTROL 2. CONSTANT 3. INDEPENDENT

4. DEPENDENT 5. VARIABLE

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 What’s New

Activity 2: Read Me
Direction: Supply the answers in the given table. Write your answer in your
notebook.

Available information Question Answer

Example What kind of substance is Acid is a substance which
1. Hydrochloric acid an acid? contains hydrogen.
contains hydrogen.
Nitric acid contains
hydrogen.
What is a Shloom?
2. All of these are
Shlooms.

None of these is a
Shloom.

3. Butterfly is an insect. What is an insect?

It has wings and
antennae.

Dragonfly is also an
Insect. It has wings
and antennae.

Well, you have just defined the variables operationally. Meaning your definition
was not taken from the dictionary or from the science books instead you define
the term/variable based on how it is being used.

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 What is It

Defining operationally implies (a) stating specific information about an

object or phenomena based on experiences with it, and (b) making working
definitions. This helps us give a precise explanation. On the other hand,
defining variables operationally means specifying the variables and how they can
be measured. They may be specified differently for different investigations.

Identifying and controlling variables entail recognizing the characteristics

of objects of factors in events that are constant or change under different
conditions. The process of identifying and controlling variables is very important
in scientific inquiry.

An experiment designed to test a specific hypothesis involves only those

factors whose effects are to be studied. These factors are known as variables.

A scientist always asks questions. Here are some vital questions to ask to
help you identify aspects in your study that you will change, measure and keep
constant.
1. What factors do I want to change or manipulate?
The answer will be the independent variable (manipulated variable or
changed variable), the variable that is changed or that change. For instance, in
an investigation of earthworms, the students want to see the effect of the
earthworms on soil quality. Thus, the factor to be changed or the independent
variable is the number of the earthworms.
2. What factors do I want to observe or measure?
The answer will be the dependent variable, the variable that responds to
the change. This is the result of the independent variable. In the investigation of
the earthworms, the dependent variable is the soil quality which can be
measured or described through ocular observation and testing with measuring
instruments.

3. What factors will I keep constant or the same?

The answer will be the controlled variables. These are the factors that
have to be kept the same for all setups. In the earthworm experiment, these will
be the type of the soil, species of earthworms, and the size of the container.
These are the types of variables.
Remember the rule: Vary only one variable or factor at a time while
keeping all other variables in the experiment unchanged or constant.

In an experiment, a control setup is used as reference or standard

against which the results of the experimental setups will be compared. A

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control isolates the effect of one variable while holding all other variables the
same for all.

The experiment in figure 1 below shows a germinated mongo (A) that is

kept in a box and away from sunlight and a germinated mongo (B) that is
exposed to sunlight. The experiment is designed to determine the effect of
sunlight on seed germination. Exposure to sunlight is the variable that is
manipulated; hence it is the independent variable. What are observed or
expected of the seed are the sprouting of the seed and height of the plant.
These are the dependent variables. Variables such as number of seed, the
species of mongo seed, the amount of water, the amount and type of
soil, the amount and kind of fertilizer and the size of the container are
the controlled variables. It needs to be kept the same all throughout the
experiment. The control group is the plant without sunlight (grown in the
dark), while the experimental group is the plant exposed to sunlight. It is
observed that the seed exposed to sunlight germinated while the seed that is
away from sunlight did not.

A B

Figure 1 Germinated Mongo plant

The experiment establishes a cause and effect relationship between

sunlight and seed germination. Because the seed without sunlight did not
germinate and the seed that received sunlight germinates. It can be
concluded that sunlight is necessary for the seed germination.

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 What’s More

Activity 3: Deal with Me?

Direction:
Read the abstract of the study below. Answer the question and write it in
your notebook.

The Nobel Prize winning scientist Karl von Frisch studied the behavior of
honeybees. He thought that bees could distinguish one kind of flower from
another. He suspected that the bees could distinguish flowers by color.

To determine if this was true, he designed a set of simple experiments. He

first trained bees to come to a source of honey located on a piece of blue card.
The bees made many trips between their hives and the honey on the blue card.

The blue card was then removed and replaced with a clean blue card and a
clean red card which did not contain honey. The bees returned to the blue card
and avoided the red card. The bees were able to distinguish the blue card from
the red card.

After von Frisch published his results, other scientists designed similar
experiments. Their findings supported von Frisch’s hypothesis.

Task:
From your reading,
1. Identify all the variables of the study.
a. __________________________________
b. __________________________________
c. __________________________________
2. What is the independent variable?
a. __________________________________
3. What is the dependent variable?
a. __________________________________

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 What I Have Learned

Activity 4: Check your Learning

Direction: Give what is being asked. Write your answer in your notebook.
1. All of these are polygons.

None of these are polygons.

a. What is a polygon?

2. Larry learned from school that organic fertilizer affects the growth of
mongo plants. She wanted to know how the amount of the fertilizer used
could affect the growth of the mongo.
b. Which of the variable is independent or changed?
1. amount of fertilizer 3. kind of plant
2. growth of plant 4. Type of soil
c. Which is the dependent variable?
1. amount of fertilizer 3. kind of plant
2. growth of plant 4. Type of soil
d. All the variables are constant except
1. amount of fertilizer 3. kind of plant
2. type of fertilizer 4. type of soil
e. Which of the following is NOT a variable of this investigation?
1. amount of fertilizer 3. kind of plant
2. growth of plant 4. Time to dissolve

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 What I Can Do

Activity 5: How Will You Do It?

Direction:
Analyze and answer the given question in your notebook.

TASK:
You want to prove that salt dissolves faster in hot water than cold water?
How will you do it? What variables will you consider?

Assessment

Direction: Read and understand the questions. Write the letter of the correct
answer in your notebook.

For items 1-2, refer to the situation below.

Your mother wants to investigate the effectiveness of the dish washing
soap used in your kitchen.

1. What could be the independent variable?

a. amount of soap c. color of the soap
b. brand of the soap d. container of the soap

2. Which is/are the controlled variables?

I. amount of soap II. Brand of soap
III. color of the soap IV. Container of the soap

a. I only b. II and III c. III and IV d. II,III & IV

3. Which answers the question what factor will I kept constant or the same?
a. control c. independent variable
b. controlled variable d. dependent variable

4. Which factor may be changed during the activity?

a. control c. independent variable
b. controlled variable d. dependent variable

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5. What factors do I want to observe or measure?
a. control c. independent variable
b. controlled variable d. dependent variable

For items 6-7, refer to the paragraph below.

Maria learned that powdered detergent soap is better than the bar soap in
removing stain. She wants to try if the news gathered is reliable.

6. What is the manipulated variable?

a. amount of detergent soap c. kind of detergent soap
b. fragrance of the detergent soap d. name of the detergent soap

7. What is the dependent variable?

a. amount of detergent soap c. kind of detergent soap
b. amount of stain removed d. kind of stain

8. Which of the following is the factor that affects the result of the activity?
a. control c. manipulated
b. dependent d. variable

9. Which isolates the effect of one variable while holding all other variables the
same for all?
a. control c. manipulated
b. dependent d. variable

10. You want to find out if temperature affects the growth of the orchid plant.
Which is the controlled variable?
a. amount of the fertilizer c. species of the orchid
b. amount of the water d. all of the above

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Activity 4 Check your Learning
1a. Polygons have definite shape.
2b. amount of fertilizer
2c. growth of the plant
2d. amount of fertilizer
Activity 3: Deal With Me 2e. time to dissolve
1. a. color of the card
b. source of food
c. number of times of trip
2. color of the card What I Know
3. number of times of trip
1. D
2. A
3. D
4. C
5. B
6. B
Activity 2: Read Me 7. C
8 .D
2. Shlooms are figures without distinct 9. B
sides. 10. D
3. Insects have wings and antennae.
Answer Key
References
BOOKS
Albarico, Joni M, Avasar, Ruel G, Castor, Lucila G, (2010), Teaching guide in
Integrated Science pp. 11-13
Amasol, Teresita A, Balce, Marina, Galvez, Elvira & Lozano, Lourdes F., (2003),
Science & Technology for the Future 1 pp.13-15
Bayquen, Aristea V, Darvin-Faraon, Genevieve, Ferriols-Pavico, Josefina Ma, &
Silverio, Angelina A, Ramos, John Donnie A (Author-Coordinator) (2013),
Exploring Life Through Science Series pp. 33-40
Lastimado, Arturo V, Sabido, Gemma T & Tanora, Vicentius Invictus M, (2005),
Science & Technology 1 Integrated Science pp. 8-9
Mangubat, Ma. Carmina R, Rasalan, Elizabeth S (Author/Coordinator) (2005),
Integrated Science Laboratory Manual and Workbook pp. viii-x, 27-30
Rabago, Lilia M, Ph.D., Joaquin, Cresencia C, Ph.D, Ferrer, Diana L, Intong,
Mona Lisa A, Mingoa, Thelma R,(1997), Science and Technology General
Science Textbook for First Year pp. 316-318
(2006,2009), Integrated Science – Science & Technology for First Year p. 10

Prepared by: Reviewed by:

LAARNI A. PABIONA ELMER B. BILLANES

Subject Teacher SS Principal II
09998890108

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