Homer notices that his shower is covered in a strange green slime. His friend Barney tells him that coconut juice will get rid of the green slime.
Homer decides to check this out by spraying half of the shower with coconut juice. He sprays the other half of the shower with water.
After 3 days of "treatment" there is no change in the appearance of the green slime on either side of the shower.
For Advance Classes:
11. What is an observation?
Identify the:
12. Control Group:
13. Independent Variable:
14. Dependent Variable:
15. What should Homer's conclusion be?
To answer these questions, let's go through the experiment and the concepts involved.
1. Observation: An observation is the act of noticing or perceiving something and gathering information about it.
2. Control Group: In an experiment, the control group is a group of subjects or items that are not exposed to the independent variable. Its purpose is to provide a baseline for comparison to determine the effects of the independent variable.
3. Independent Variable: The independent variable is the factor that is intentionally changed or manipulated by the researcher in an experiment. It is the variable that is believed to influence or cause a change in the dependent variable.
4. Dependent Variable: The dependent variable is the variable that is measured or observed in response to the changes in the independent variable. It is the outcome or result that the researcher is interested in studying.
Now, let's identify the control group, independent variable, and dependent variable in Homer's experiment:
12. Control Group: In this experiment, the control group would be the half of the shower sprayed with water. It serves as a baseline for comparison.
13. Independent Variable: The independent variable in this experiment is the half of the shower sprayed with coconut juice. This variable is intentionally changed to test its effects on the green slime.
14. Dependent Variable: The dependent variable in this experiment is the appearance of the green slime. Homer observes whether there is a change in its appearance after 3 days.
15. Homer's conclusion should be that neither the coconut juice nor the water had any effect on the green slime on either side of the shower. The experiment did not support Barney's claim that coconut juice would get rid of the green slime.