1.3 Study Guide Flashcards
What is an independent variable.
A variable that stands alone and isn’t changed by the other variables you are trying to measure
What is a dependent variable?
The variable that changes as a result of the independent variable manipulation in experiments
Determine the independent and dependent variable in this situation. The amount of sleep I get tonight, will affect my score on my math test tomorrow.
How long you sleep (independent variable) affects your test score (dependent variable).
What is a control group?
Something used as a standard for comparison to check the results of an experiment ( it remains unchanged).
Why is having a control group important?
The purpose of a control group is to provide a baseline against which the results from the treatment group can be compared.
Identify a good control group for a scientific experiment.
If I am testing whether or not a certain fertilizer affects planet growth, the control group will be the planets not sprayed with the fertilizer.
What is an error bar on a graph and what does it measure?
An error bar is a line through a point on a graph, parallel to one of the axes, which represents the variation or spread relative to corresponding point. Error bars measure the error or uncertainty in a reported measurement.
If error bars overlap more, what does that mean?
When standard deviation errors bars overlap quite a bit, it’s a clue that the difference is not significant.
What is an hypothesis? Give an example.
A hypothesis is an assumption, an idea that is proposed for the sake of argument so that it can be tested to see if it might be true. Example - If I water planets daily, they will grow faster.
