1.3 Flashcards
Whats step 1 to writing a scientific hypothesis?
Come up with a specific reason that explains the phenomena.
Whats step 2 to writing a scientific hypothesis?
Write a testable statement
Whats a control group?
A group in the experiment which a variable is not being tested.
Why is a control group important to have?
To create a benchmark to compare the experimental results to
What does it mean if error bars overlap?
Difference is not statistically significant
What does it mean if error bars overlap a little bit?
Difference is probably not statistically significant
Whats does it mean if error bars don’t overlap at all?
Different may be significant (Can not be sure)
The growth of plants repends on the availability of nutrients in the soil. If I add increasing amounts of fertilizer to soil, the amount of biomass in each plant will increase. Whats the independent variable?
Fertilizer
The growth of plants repends on the availability of nutrients in the soil. If I add increasing amounts of fertilizer to soil, the amount of biomass in each plant will increase. Whats the dependent variable?
Nutrients in plants
Plants treated with fertilizer will grow better than plants without fertilizer because they will have more nutrients required for growth. Can this hypothesis be improved?
Yes
What happens if we don’t have a control group?
It can make it impossible to draw meaningful conclusions from a study.
In a pharmaceutical study to determine the effectiveness of a new drug on the treatment of migraines. Whats a good control group for this?
The control group will be administered a placebo (a drug that is inert, or assumed to have no effect)
