CO-VIVA SOUTH AFRICA

Grade 8
Natural Science

Term 1
Resource booklet

Important notice: Formal school based

assessment (SBA)
Investigative or Term test 1
practical task 1

Mark: 20 Marks Mark: 50 Marks

Work that needs to be Work that needs to be
studied will be studied will be
communicated communicated
 Day 1 Scientific Method
Reading
Scientific Method
When doing an experiment, you have to follow certain steps. These steps
are known as the scientific method. If a scientist does not follow these
steps when doing an investigation, his results will not be valid.
How do you make an experiment more reliable and improve validity? By
repeating the experiment, having more control groups, more randomization
and improving measurement techniques.

You are expected to follow these steps:

 In the correct order
 Understand the reasoning behind each step
 Follow the steps in both your planning and execution of the
investigation
Steps are as follow:
Step 1 Investigative question:
Develop a question or problem statement that can be solved through
experimentation.
eg. Will plant growth increase if the soil temperature increases?
Step 2 Aim: To test/To observe/To demonstrate if eg. To test if plant growth will increase if
the temperature increases
Step 3 Hypothesis: May never start with the words “I think” or “it might”. It is what you
predict the answer to your problem statement or question will be. It is an
anticipated/ predicted statement.
eg. the plant growth will increase when the temperature increases OR
the plant growth will NOT increase when the temperature increases.
Step 4 Variables:
 Independent variable: Factor that is intentionally varied by the experimenter. eg.
Temperature
Dependent variable: Factor that will be measured eg. Plant growth.
Constant variable: Factor that you keep the same. eg. Plant under normal weather.
Step 5 Method: A detailed list of the materials (apparatus) used must be written.
Develop and follow a procedure (in point form)
Must be written in third person (no “I” or “we”)
Step 6 Results and interpretation: The results are placed in a table. A graph is drawn from
the table to illustrate the results from the experiment.
Step 7 Conclusion: It is the summary of your experiment. Did you prove your hypothesis
correct or not? eg. my hypothesis is correct, plant growth does increase if
temperature increases. OR my hypothesis is incorrect, plant growth does not
increase if the temperature increases.
Nina’s plants
Nina has a lot of plants in her room. She read somewhere that if you play
music to the plants that it will grow faster. She decided to do her own
experiment and test to see if it is true.

Step 1: Investigative question:

Will a plant grow faster if I play music to it?
Step 2: Aim:
To test if a plant will grow faster if I play music to it.
Step 3: Hypothesis/Statement:
Plant will grow faster if music is played to it.
Step 4: Variables:
Independent variable: Music that is being played.
Dependent variable: Growth of plants.
Constant variable: same pots, same soil, same seeds and the same
environment (sunlight, temperature, water….)
Step 5: Method:
Apparatus:
- Plant pots - Seeds - Water
- Soil - Radio
Method:
 Take 2 pots and let 5 seeds germinate in each of them.
 Place one pot in a room and play music to it every day for 3 hours for
3 weeks.
 Place the other pot in another room (with the same environmental
conditions) BUT with no music.
 Measure the growth of the plant each week.

Step 6: Results and Interpretation:

Table showing the results if music is being played to a plant:
Height (cm) Height (cm)
Week No music With music
0 3 3.1
1 4.6 4.7
2 6.3 6.5
 3 7.9 8.3

You can draw a graph from the results.

Step 7: Conclusion:
Hypothesis is correct. The plant that was played music to is 0,4cm higher in
growth, therefore music lets plants grow faster.

Summary:
 You use the Scientific Method when doing an experiment or
investigation. All Scientists follow these steps all over the world.
 The steps of the Scientific Method must be followed in a specific
order.
 The results are usually in a table form which you can draw a graph
from.

Tips from the teacher:

Remember to state whether your hypothesis is correct/incorrect at your
conclusion when rewriting your statement.
Activity:
Scientific Method Activity
Day 2 Graphs:

Terminology:
Term Description
Line graph Quantitative (Numbers). Usually drawn from information in a
table.
Histogram Drawn when the x-axis is quantitative or in ranges for a
number. Bars touch.
Bar graph Drawn when the x-axis is qualitative e.g. race or appliances.
Bars do not touch
Pie chart Drawn when using percentages.
Independent Not dependent on any variable.
variable
Dependent variable Depends on the independent variable. Value being measured.
Quantitative Numbers
Qualitative Physical objects or things that are not number e.g. race

Reading:
 1. How do you draw a graph:
 A graph ALWAYS has a heading and must be underlined.
The heading includes your dependent and independent
variables WITH its UNITS it is measured in. The heading of a
graph is usually also the heading of the table, so you can get
it from there.
eg. A boy wanted to test if plant growth is influenced by temperature.

Ask yourself….what is the boy testing? He is testing plant

growth…The variable which is being tested will always be
on the Y-axis (dependent variable). The variable that
influences the dependent variable is your Independent variable and it
will always be on the X-axis. Time, weeks, months, years will always
 be on the X-axis. So what influences the plant growth? The
temperature!

Plant growth is usually measured in centimeter or millimeter so your

UNIT for plant growth is “cm”.

Temperature is measured in degrees Celsius so your UNIT for

temperature is “°C”.

Y: Dependent variable (unit) X: Independent variable (unit)

 Heading: Graph to indicate plant growth (cm) influenced by

temperature (°C)
OR Graph illustrating the effect temperature (°C) has on plant
growth (cm):

Y
10
Plant growth (cm)

8
6
4
2
0 X
10 20 30 40
Temperature (°C)

o GRAPH ALWAYS STARTS AT ZERO (if it is a line graph or

histogram or bar graph).
o You divide your Y and X axis into either even number intervals
(2,4,6,8,10) spaced 1cm apart from one another. How do you
 know at what number to start and which interval to use? You
look at the minimum and maximum in your table and calculate
which number can divide into both the min and max. Eg. If my
maximum is 50 and the minimum is 5 then I would divide my
axis into multiples/intervals of 5, because 5 can divide into 50
ten times and into 5 once.
o Note: You use a line graph if you work with numbers
(quantative) and usually the information given is in the form of a
table.
o You use a histogram when you are comparing numbers and if
the numbers are in ranges.
o You use a bar graph when you are comparing variables and
your independent variable (X-axis) is something that is not in
the form of numbers (qualitative).
o You use a pie-chart when working with percentages.

Y-axis: Dependent Variable: Can be manipulated. IT IS WHAT YOU

MEASURE IN AN EXPERIMENT. Depends on the Independent *variable.
X-axis: Independent Variable: Have control over. Can’t easily be
manipulated e.g time/months/years
Variable: A value that can be changed.
Summary:
 A graph must always have a heading.
 Your horizontal axis on your graph is your X-axis and must be
labelled with a measuring unit. It will always be your independent
variable.
 Your vertical axis on your graph is your Y-axis and must be labelled
with a measuring unit. It will always be your dependent variable.
 Your graph starts at zero.
 Divide your axes in to single OR odd OR equal intervals.
 Use 1 cm for each interval.
Tips from the teacher:
1. Remember which variable is which axis.

Activity:
Please read through the section again.

Day 3:
Graph Activity 1: Line graph

A scientist counted the number of field mice in a specific area over a period
of time. The following results were obtained:
Number of field mice over a period of 2 months:
Time (weeks) Number of field mice
1 5
 2 8
3 16
4 32
5 60
6 65
7 61
8 65
Draw a line graph based on the information in the table above.
Graph Activity 2: Histogram

Individuals of a certain age in a population:

Age People in millions
0-4 4.5
5 - 14 10
15 - 19 5
20 - 29 8
30 - 44 9
45 - 64 6
65+ 2
Draw a histogram based on the information in the table above.

Day 4:
Graph Activity 3: Bar graph

Power rating (Watt) according to appliance:

 Appliance Power rating in Watt
Toaster 700
Kettle 2400
Iron 1500
Radio 100
Microwave 1400
Sewing Machine 200

Draw a bar graph based on the information in the table above.

Graph Act 4: Pie chart

The main energy source used by a certain country are indicated in the table
on the next page.
Percentage energy source used:
Energy Source % used
Water 2
Nuclear 8
Coal 25
Oil 40
Natural Gas 25

Draw a pie chart based on the information in the table above