PRIMA

Science
Test 1

Name: ____________________________ Date: _______________

1. What are the steps of the scientific method?

Step 1: _________________________________________© Amy Brown Science

Step 2: _________________________________________

Step 3: _________________________________________

Step 4: _________________________________________

Step 5: _________________________________________

Step 6: _________________________________________

2. You want to determine the effect of a certain nutrient on the growth of orchids grown in a greenhouse. Materials
that are available to you include: greenhouse, 100 orchid plants, water, nutrient, and soil. You want to know if the
orchids will grow best with a weak concentration of nutrient, a medium concentration of nutrient, or a high
concentration of nutrient. How will you design an experiment to test different concentrations of this nutrient?

A. State your hypothesis: ________________________________________________________________

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B. How will you set up a controlled experiment? ______________________________________________

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C. What is the control group in this experiment? ______________________________________________

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D. What is the experimental group in this experiment? _________________________________________

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E. What variables must be kept constant in this experiment? ____________________________________

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F. What variable is being changed in this experiment? _________________________________________

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G. After one month of measuring the orchids, the following data is obtained:

Group 1 (Control Group): Grew to an average height of 15 cm.

Group 2 (Weak concentration): Grew to an average height of 35 cm.
Group 3 (Medium concentration): Grew to an average height of 28 cm.
Group 4 (High concentration): Grew to an average height of 10 cm.

Is your hypothesis supported or not supported by these results? ________________________________

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What is your conclusion based on these results? ____________________________________________

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H. Organize the data into a table and plot it in an appropriate graph.

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 3. The left column contains vocabulary words for parts of an experiment. The right column contains definitions.
Match the vocabulary word with its correct definition by writing the appropriate letter in the box.

1. Problem Statement A. A factor that is measured in an experiment

2. Hypothesis B. Examining the data to identify patterns and/or find connections
3. Independent variable C. A trial used to compare the results of an experiment
4. Dependent variable D. All the stuff needed to do the experiment
5. Constant E. Information represented by descriptions or adjectives
6. Experimental control F. Describes the main topic of the experiment
7. Materials G. A tool used to summarize data in a visual way
8. Procedure H. A factor that is purposely changed during an experiment
9. Qualitative Data I. A brief summary of an experiment
10. Quantitative Data J. A possible explanation or an answer to a scientific question
11. Graph K. Information represented by numerical measurements
12. Analysis L. Factors that must be kept the same during an experiment
13. Conclusion M. The steps needed to correctly conduct an experiment

4. Read through the following scenarios. Identify the control group, the experimental group, the independent variable, and
the dependent variable

Scenario Independent Dependent Experimental Control

Variable Variable Group Group

A company wants to test a new dog food that is

supposed to help overweight dogs lose weight.
50 dogs are chosen to get the new food, and 50
more continue their normal diets. After one
month, the dogs are checked to see if they lost
any weight.

A new sunscreen has been developed that is

supposed to be more effective at preventing
sunburn. 30 participants spray one arm with the
new formula, and spray the other arm with the
leading formula. After 4 hours in the sun, their
skin is evaluated for any redness.

A student wants to study the effect of sunlight on

plant growth. In his experiment, 12 plants receive
normal amounts of sunlight, but half of them are
kept under bright sun lamps all night long. After 6
weeks, the plants’ heights are measured.