5 th Grade Ms. Bridgeland

Example problem statement: How will the type of liquid added to a vase affect a flower’s growth?

Do you know the difference between the independent and dependent variables?

Independent Variable The independent, or manipulated variable, is a factor that is intentionally varied by the experimenter. The independent variable is the type of liquid in which the flowers grow. (water, sprite, coke, diet coke)

Dependent Variable The dependent, or responding variable, is the factor that may change as a result of changes made in the independent variable. The amount that each flower grows.

Control Group In a scientific experiment, the control is the group that serves as the standard of comparison. The control group may be a “ no treatment" or an “ experimenter selected ” group.

What is the control? The flower with the water. Water is a standard to compare because flowers usually grow in water.

Constants John ’ s teacher reminds him to keep all other factors the same. What would constants in this experiment be?

Constants The constants in an experiment are all the factors that the experimenter attempts to keep the same.

Constants The type of flower The amount of each drink added to the vase. The age of each flower

Experiment John writes out his procedure for his experiment along with a materials list in his journal. He has both of these checked by his teacher where she checks for any safety concerns.

Experiment He comes up with a list of needed materials and a procedure.

Materials 73 mL water x 5 14 mL yeast x 5 7 mL salt 925 g sugar 60 mL vegetable oil X L bread flour x 5 1 cooking pan x 5 1 large metal bowl 1 large metal spoon 1 oven 1 triple beam balance scale 1 pair of oven mitts 1 tape measure

Procedure Guidelines: A procedure should be able to be followed by anyone. It should be a list of directions. It should be specific and include the exact amounts of materials. It should not include “I, you, he” or “she.”

Procedure: 1)In a large bowl, mix 50 g of sugar,14 mL of yeast and 73 mL of water. 2)Then add 7 mL of salt, 60 mL oil, and 1.5 L bread flour. 3) Mix ingredients with a metal spoon until dough forms. 4) Knead dough on a flat surface for 3 minutes. 5) Cover dough with a damp cloth. 6) Leave dough for one hour to rise.

Procedure Continued 7) Place bread in oven at 350* for 30 minutes. 8) Remove bread from oven and allow bread to cool. 9) Measure length, width, and height of bread with a measuring tape to get volume of the bread. 10) Record data in data notebook. 11) In a large bowl, mix 25 g of sugar,14 mL of yeast and 73 mL of water. 12) Repeat steps 2 – 10.