Scientific Method Practice Worksheet 2015-2016 Name __________________________________ Period______

Use the data table below to answer the next three questions.

1. What is the relationship between the temperature and the number of chirps per minute?

2. Identify the manipulated variable (independent variable) in the experiment.

3. Identify the responding variable (dependent variable) in the experiment.

The diagram shows a controlled experiment designed to test how much time it takes for seeds to germinate under four
different conditions. Four bean seeds were placed in each of four pots. Each pot contained 100 cubic centimeters (cm3) of
soil. All four pots were placed on the same sunny windowsill. A different amount of water was placed in each pot.

4. Identify the independent (manipulated) variable in this experiment.

5. Identify two conditions shown in the diagram that are held constant in all four pots.

Jordan is doing a science fair project on the effects of music on the growth of tomatoes. He has two
tomato plants, Plant A and Plant B, that he grows in a window and gives the same amount of water.
Plant A is exposed to classical music using headphones attached to the soil. Throughout the growth
period, Jordan counts the number of tomatoes produced by each plant.
Plant A = 35 Tomatoes | Plant B = 55 Tomatoes

6. What is the control group?

7. What is the manipulated (independent) variable?

8. What is the responding (dependent) variable?

9. What should Jordan’s conclusion be? Write this in a complete sentence!

10. Jordan needs to repeat the experiment, but his teacher says that he needs to improve his design. In his second
experiment, what should he do different?
Scientific Method Practice Worksheet 2015-2016 Name __________________________________ Period______

In a school science fair, Tina asks the question “Does caffeine increase the heart rate of an earthworm?” In Test 1, she
measures the heart rate by looking at the earthworm under a microscopes, the earthworm has a heart rate of 50 bpm (beats
per minute). In Test 2, she places a few drops of caffeine on the earthworm’s skin and measures the rate again. In this test,
the heart rate is 68 bpm.
11. What is the manipulated (independent) variable in this experiment?
12. What is the responding (dependent) variable in this experiment?
13. Tina’s experiment should have included a hypothesis. In a complete sentence, suggest a
hypothesis for Tina’s experiment.

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About 300 years ago, the Italian
scientist Francesco Redi wondered
where maggots—small wormlike
organisms—come from. The
popular belief at the time was that
rotting meat turns into maggots.
This idea, that living things could
come from nonliving material, was
called spontaneous generation.
Redi designed an experiment to
test this belief. He placed meat
into eight jars. Four jars were left
open; four were tightly sealed.
Diagram 1 shows what Redi
observed.

As you can see, no maggots

appeared on the rotting meat in the
sealed jars. However, not
everyone was convinced that
Redi’s experiment had disproved
spontaneous generation. Some
people claimed that fresh air was
needed for spontaneous generation
to occur. Therefore, Redi
performed a second experiment.
This time the jars were covered by
fine netting, which allowed fresh
air into the jars but prevented flies
from entering and landing on the
meat. Diagram 2 shows what Redi
observed in his second
experiment.

14. Based on Redi’s experiments,

where do the maggots come from?

15. What conclusion can be drawn

from these experiments about
spontaneous generation?
Scientific Method Practice Worksheet 2015-2016 Name __________________________________ Period______