Name Alexa Bowden Period: 1A
Identify the Controls and Variables
Identify the -
Dr. Nick advises Homer that he
needs to reduce his salt intake to 1. Control
lower his heart rate. Homer isn’t
so sure that giving up salt will be No salt diet
that helpful. To test his idea that
salt won’t lower his heart rate, he
eats all the food he loves for a 2. Manipulated (Independent) Variable
week and measures his heart rate
daily. On average, he had a heart Salt Intake/food
rate of 115 bpm (beats per
minute). 3. Responding (Dependent) Variable
In his next experiment, he spends
a week not eating any salty food. This week, his average Heart rate
heart rate was 95 bpm.
4. What should his conclusion be?
Dr. Nick was correct. Lowering salt intake
lowers his heart rate.
Identify the -
Mr. Burns believes that giving his 5. Control
workers free lunch will improve the
productivity at the plant. To test
this idea, he gives half of the No lunches
workers a free lunch of pizza every
day for a month. 6. Manipulated (Independent) Variable
Another group of workers is not
provided lunch and must bring their Giving free lunch/food
own.
At the end of the month, he 7. Responding (Dependent) Variable
measures productivity by examining
the number of completed jobs.
Amount of completed work
The group that was fed lunch had more completed jobs
than the ones who weren’t given lunch.
8. What should his conclusion be?
Give free lunches to workers increase the
productivity of his workers
Bart has a science fair project due this Identify the -
week and decides to determine if
band-aids really speed up healing. He 9. Control
has just had a skateboarding accident
and had cuts on both his knees. No scrapes
On his left knee, he covers the cut with
a bandaid and then he leaves the right 10. Manipulated (Independent) Variable
knee uncovered.
At the end of the week he removes the Bandaids
bandaid and compares the two cuts.
The one that was covered seems 11. Responding (Dependent) Variable
mostly healed, but the one that was
not covered looks red and has not The speed his cut heals
healed.
12. What should his conclusion be?
Bandaids help speed up the healing process
Identify the -
Marge has been trying to get Maggie
to sleep through the night without 13. Control
her pacifier. A friend suggests that
putting lavender oil on Maggie’s No lavender oil
pillow will help her sleep.
14. Manipulated (Independent) Variable
The first night, Marge puts Maggie to
sleep without her pacifier. Maggie
woke up in an hour Lavender oil
crying. 15. Responding (Dependent) Variable
The second night,
Maggie’s sleep
Marge put lavender oil
on the pillow. Maggie
still woke up after an 16. What should Marge’s conclusion be?
hour crying.
Lavender oil does not help Maggie sleep
without a pacifier
Lisa is also working on her own 17. Describe how Lisa would perform this
science fair project and wants to experiment. Identify the dependent and
make sure her project is better than independent variables in her experiment.
Bart’s. She wants to study the effect
of radio waves on plant growth.
She would let a plant grow for a week with
radio waves, then she would have another
plant that she lets grow for a week without
radio waves. Then she will get her results. The
independent variable is radio waves, and the
dependent is plant growth.
