Name: Zanala Date: 6/24/21
Student Exploration: Effect of Environment on New Life Form
Vocabulary: controlled experiment, hypothesis, variable
Both control and experimental groups that are kept under similar varibles
A series of steps to follow over the course of an experiment
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.
Since he already know cardinals will come to the birdfeeder, he could use to different bottles
and see witch food goes down the most well to see which one they prefer.
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?
Thin 74
Medium 19
Thick 7
2. Click Play ( ). Do the numbers of each type of alien change over time? no
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?
Sunlight water and temperature are the three Varibles that ca be change
4. Which of these variables do you think will have the greatest effect on the aliens? Explain.
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Temperature has the greatest effect on the aliens because the way of the numbers
change after you adjust the temperature with the environment.
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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:
Thin 74
Medium 19
Thick 7
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? Thin 2
Medium 8
Thick 90
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?
Thin 90
Medium 8
Thick 2
3. Analyze: From the observations you made above, can you state exactly why the aliens
changed their shape? Why or why not?
The aliens seem to change based on the temperature, the warmer it gets the thinner the
aliens get, the colder it gets the thicker the aliens get.
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.
I belive that the aliens get thinner as the temperature rises.
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5. Design an experiment: A controlled experiment is an experiment in which only one
variable is changed at a time.
Describe a controlled experiment you could use to test your hypothesis.
If you keep the temperature the same but change the water and sunlight there will be a
little effect on the aliens.
6. Run the Gizmo: Run a controlled experiment to test your hypothesis. Describe the results of
your experiment below.
The results will be correct while the temperature stay, but I change both water and
sunlight to 13 and 15 and nothing change the alien size.
7. Run the Gizmo: Run controlled experiments to determine the effect of each variable.
A. How does changing the amount of light affect the aliens?
When the sunlight was moved
B. How does changing the amount of water affect the aliens?
When adjust the water
C. How does changing the temperature affect the aliens?
The monsters got skinny as the temperature increase.
8. Draw conclusions: Which variable or variables affected the aliens?
Temperature was effect on 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.
By only changing one variable at a time, you can see more clearly what is chaing with the
experiment opposed to do everything differently.
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