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Scientific Method scenarios
Biology 1 (BSC 2010)
Florida Atlantic University
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SCENARIO #1 – Maggie’s Plant Experiment
In this exercise you will read the following scenario and identify the parts of the scientific method in it.
Maggie read that some plants grow better if the soil is acidic. She can’t believe that a plant can grow when exposed to acid. Maggie decides to test if the plants she has will grow better when acid is added to the soil. She puts potting soil in two planting containers and transplants two of her geraniums that seem about the same size into the pots. She puts the pots in the same location so that they both get the same sunlight each day, are at the same temperature and she makes sure they get the same amount of water. However, Maggie puts a tablespoon of vinegar in the water she gives to one of the plants. She measures the growth of the plants every week for five weeks and records the results in a data table below:
Week Height of Plants in Container with Vinegar (cm)
Height of Plants in Container without Vinegar (cm)
1 10 10.
2 12 11.
3 14 13.
4 18 15.
5 21 17.
- Hypothesis: _________________________________________________________________________ 2.
Dependent Variable: _________________________________________________________________ 3.
Independent Variable: ________________________________________________________________ 4.
Constants: __________________________________________________________________________ 5.
Control Group:______________________________________________________________________ 6.
Experimental Group: _________________________________________________________________
SCENARIO #2 – Donna’s Pendulum Experiment
In this exercise you will read the following scenario and identify the parts of the scientific method in it.
Donna has observed that her father can control the speed of their grandfather
clock by adjusting the height of the weight on the end of the pendulum. Donna thinks that the pendulum will move faster when the weight is lowered, and wants to test her idea. Donna gets a stopwatch and measures the time it takes for the pendulum to swing twenty times when the weight is moved to its lowest position. Donna begins to move the pendulum up by 1 cm and continues to measure the time for twenty swings of the pendulum. Donna records her data. Position Time (seconds)
1 23.
2 21.
3 20.
4 19.
5 18.
- Hypothesis:
_________________________________________________________________________ 2.
Dependent Variable: _________________________________________________________________
- Independent Variable:
________________________________________________________________ 4. Constants:
__________________________________________________________________________ 5. Control
Group:______________________________________________________________________ 6.
Experimental Group: _________________________________________________________________
SCENARIO #3 -- Al’s salt water experiment
In this exercise you will read the following scenario and identify the parts of the scientific method in it.
Al wonders if adding salt to water will affect how long it takes the water to freeze. Al thinks that salt water will freeze more quickly than fresh water. He decides to check his hypothesis by conducting an experiment. Al takes two ice trays and fills one with distilled water and the other with distilled water that has two tablespoons of salt added. He makes sure he puts exactly the same amount of water in each ice tray. Al takes the trays and puts them side by side in the freezer. Al checks the ice trays every 10 minutes to see if the water in each tray has begun to freeze. Al finds that after 20 minutes the water in the ice tray without the salt has started to form ice, while the ice tray with the salt water is still completely liquid.
- Hypothesis: _________________________________________________________________________ 2.
Dependent Variable: _________________________________________________________________ 3.
Independent Variable: ________________________________________________________________ 4.
Constants: __________________________________________________________________________ 5.
Control Group:______________________________________________________________________ 6.
Experimental Group: _________________________________________________________________
SCENARIO #4 – Christian’s Cart Experiment
In this exercise you will read the following scenario and identify the parts of the scientific method in it. Christian
wonders if a heavier cart will roll faster down-hill than a lighter one. He formulates a hypothesis and then decides to conduct an experiment. First, he finds a smooth ramp and a cart. He makes sure that the wheels of his cart roll freely. He set the ramp against a chair so one side of the ramp was 0 m off the ground. Next, he measures the distance the cart will travel down the ramp. He leaves about 10 cm at the top of the ramp and draws a line to mark the release position of the car. He then
Experimental Group: _________________________________________________________________
SCENARIO #6 – Candy Connection
Mr. Lehman wanted to know whether or not his students would do better on a quiz if he promised them candy. He went to the library and read several studies about the effect of giving food to lab animals. He found out that if animals were given food as a reward for doing something, they usually did better the more reward they were given. He guessed that the more candy that his students were promised, the better they would do on the quiz. He had all of his classes participate in the experiment. There were four groups in all. Each group had the same amount of boys and girls, they were all given the same quiz, they were all the same age, the same ability, and they were all from the same background. The first group was not promised any candy if they did well on the quiz. The second group was promised 1 candy bar if they did well on the quiz. The third group was promised 2 candy bars if they did well on the quiz. The forth group was promised 3 candy bars if they did well on the quiz. Group #1 got an average of 70% on the quiz. Group #2 got an average of 80% on the quiz. Group #3 got an average of 90% on the quiz. Group #4 got an average of 95% on the quiz. Mr. Lehman then decided that the more candy a group was promised, the better they did on quizzes. He then repeated the experiment with different students.
Using the information provided in the scenario, fill in
the data table:
P U O R G
f s r d o a e r b s i
e t g s a r % e e T
e b y d m m o n r u a P N C
v A
SCENARIO #6 – Candy Connection (continued)
- Hypothesis: _________________________________________________________________________ 2.
Dependent Variable: _________________________________________________________________ 3.
Independent Variable: ________________________________________________________________ 4.
Constants: __________________________________________________________________________ 5.
Control Group:______________________________________________________________________ 6.
Experimental Group: _________________________________________________________________
SCENARIO #7 – Sunflower Seeds
Mr. Toowise was having a difficult time getting his students to get good grades on quizzes. He was trying to think of a way that he could positively reward his students. He read an article that said that lab rats that were rewarded with sunflower seeds ran through a maze faster than rats that were not rewarded with sunflower seeds. Mr. Toowise stated, "I think that the more sunflower seeds I promise my students, the better they will do on a quiz." He divided the class into three groups. Group one was promised zero sunflower seeds if they did well on the next quiz. Group two was promised 25 sunflower seeds if they did well on the next quiz. Group three was promised 50 sunflower seeds if they did well on the next quiz. Group one received an average of 70% on the quiz. Group two received an average of 73% on the quiz. Group three received an average of 71% on the quiz. He looked at his results and concluded that the amount of sunflowers promised to students does not effect their quiz scores.
Using the information provided in the scenario above, fill in the data table below: P U O R G
f r o e
r s w d e o l e b f e m n S u u N S
e t g s a r % e e T v A
- Hypothesis: _________________________________________________________________________ 2.
Dependent Variable: _________________________________________________________________ 3.
Independent Variable: ________________________________________________________________ 4.
Constants: __________________________________________________________________________ 5.
Control Group:______________________________________________________________________ 6.
Experimental Group: _________________________________________________________________
Scientific Method scenarios
Course: Biology 1 (BSC 2010)
University: Florida Atlantic University
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