Science PASS Review Variables

1. Science PASS ReviewVariables Brooke Ard 5th Grade Math/Science Griggs Road

2. Observations • Let’s say that you observe a group of birds making nests in your grandfather’s garage. But you’ve also noticed that they do not make nests in his shed. • You may ask yourself some questions: • What do I know about birds and their nests? • Why would they avoid the shed?

3. Hypotheses • After you finish your observations, you may try to find some answers about these questions. • This possible answer may give you the reason as to why the birds are only nesting in the garage and not the shed. • This is called a hypothesis. • You could hypothesize, or guess, that: • Your grandmother’s cat stays in the shed and this is scaring away the birds.

4. Investigations • Because you think that your grandmother’s cat is the problem, you can try to test out your hypothesis. • You ask your grandmother to keep the cat in the house for three days so that you can see if the birds will nest in the garage. • Since you are changing something in this investigation (keeping the cat inside), that is your independent variable. • The results from keeping the cat inside (birds nesting in the garage) are called the dependent variables. • Everything else about the experiment is kept the same. These are your controlled variables: • Locations (shed and garage) • Type of birds • No other animals in the area

5. Practice • You make the observation that a plant in your kitchen grows toward the sunlight that comes in from the window. Which of the following is a question that can help you make a hypothesis? • Why is the plant green? • Why do plants need water? • Do plants need sunlight to grow? • Do plants need soil to grow?

6. Practice • What should scientists do if the results of their investigations do not match their hypothesis? • Change their results to fit their hypothesis • Change their hypothesis to fit their results • Change their observations • Try to explain why their results were wrong

7. Practice • You set up an experiment to see how sunlight affects plant growth. You give two plants the same amount of water every day, but you put one in the sunlight, and the other in the shade. Which of the following is a controlled variable? • The sunlight • The amount of water given • The amount of soil given • The location of each plant