Name: ______________________________________ 1/28/2021

Date: ________________________

Student Exploration: Effect of Environment on New Life Form

Vocabulary: controlled experiment, hypothesis, variable

Prior Knowledge Question (Do this BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

Johnny likes to watch the birds that visit his birdfeeder. His favorite bird is the cardinal. How
could Johnny determine which kind of birdseed cardinals prefer? Explain your answer in detail.
Johnny can use the same amount of different birdseed. The birdseed that seems to empty
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faster could be the chosen one.

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Gizmo Warm-up
Imagine a new alien life form has just been discovered on a
nearby planet. Your job is to study this new life form. The
Effect of Environment on New Life Form Gizmo shows 100
individuals that have been transported from the planet to your
laboratory.

1. The new life form can have three shapes: thin, medium,
and thick. How many of each shape are there now?
74
Thin: _______ 19
Medium: _______ 7
Thick: _______

2. Click Play ( No
). Do the numbers of each type of alien change over time? ______________

3. Click Reset ( ). A variable is something that can be changed in an experiment. Look on

the SIMULATION pane. What are the three variables you can change in your laboratory?

Light, water and temperature are the variables that can be changed.
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4. Which of these variables do you think will have the greatest effect on the aliens? Explain.

I think temperature and water will have more impact because a high temperature and
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having no water could have bad effects in the experimental group.

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2019
 Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity:
 Click Reset.
Controlling
 Select the BAR CHART tab.
variables
 Turn on Show numerical values.

Question: What variables control the shape of the alien life forms?

1. Record: Record the starting numbers of thin, medium, and thick aliens:
74
Thin: _______ 19
Medium: _______ 7
Thick: _______

2. Observe: Change the Light to 0 hours/day, the Water to 1 drops/hr, and the Temp. to
0 °C. Click Play, and observe the aliens until the numbers are stable. Click Pause.

A. How many of each type of alien are there now?

2
Thin: _______ 8
Medium: _______ 90
Thick: _______

B. Click Reset. Change the Light to 24 hours/day, the Water to 20 drops/hr, and the
Temp. to 30 °C. Click Play. How many of each type of alien are there now?
90
Thin: _______ 8
Medium: _______ 2
Thick: _______

3. Analyze: From the observations you made above, can you state exactly why the aliens
changed their shape? Why or why not?
There is a chance that the aliens have changed their figure because they just received
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liquid. There was no light or temperature for them to burn energy.

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4. Form a hypothesis: A hypothesis is a proposed explanation for an observation. Hypotheses

must be testable. Write a hypothesis about what causes the aliens to change their shape.
The absence of light or temperature is causing that the experimental subjects have changed
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their shape. The absence of the temperature generates that the subjects retain water.
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(Activity continued on next page)

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Activity (continued from previous page)

5. Design an experiment: A controlled experiment is an experiment in which only one

variable is changed at a time.
The temperature
Describe a controlled experiment you could use to test your hypothesis. ________________
0
Will be adjusted to 30 C to provoke the aliens to change to a thin shape.
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6. Run the Gizmo: Run a controlled experiment to test your hypothesis. Describe the results of
your experiment below.
0
With a 30 C temperature the aliens effectively changed to a thin shape.
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7. Run the Gizmo: Run controlled experiments to determine the effect of each variable.
By changing the
A. How does changing the amount of light affect the aliens? _____________________
amount of light the aliens get thick.
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The amount of water
B. How does changing the amount of water affect the aliens? ____________________
provokes the aliens to get thicker.
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With high temperature the

C. How does changing the temperature affect the aliens? ________________________
number of thin aliens are higher.
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8. Draw conclusions: Which variable or variables affected the aliens? ____________________

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9. Think and discuss: Why is it important to only change one variable at a time? If possible,
discuss your answer with your classmates and teacher.
Is important to change only one variable at a time because you will see which variable
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provoke a change in the subject. In this case, incrementing the amount of light a water, the
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amount of think aliens are higher. I would have changed light and water at the same time, I
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would not have known that both variables provoke the same effect.
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2019