Using the Scientific Method

Name ______

You may have noticed that the temperature in a large room, such as a classroom, can vary from place to place with that room. It would be useful to find out how temperature varies within your classroom. A scientist would use an organized, logical approach to solving such a problem. In this experiment, you will use the scientific method to investigate the air temperature in different parts of your classroom. You will identity the difference between controls and variables

Control ______

Variable ______

Materials Celsius thermometer Masking tape 1/4” graph paper

State the problem: Where is the warmest and where is the coolest place in the room?

Gather information: List three factors that affect air temperature.

1.______

2. ______

3. ______Hypothesis:

Based on the factors where do you think the warmest place in the room is and why?

Based on the factors where do you think the coolest place in the room is and why?

Procedures:

1. Chose one thermometer and tape it to the area that you think will be the warmest in the room. Label the tape A

2. Chose one thermometer and tape it to the area that you think will be the coolest in the room. Label the tape B

3. After 4 minutes record you data on your chart in degrees Celsius. Remove the thermometers.

4. Put your data on the board to share it with the class.

5. Copy down the class data and do the analysis section.

Your Data:

Area of classroom Temperature in Celsius

A) Warmest

B) Coolest Class data:

A) Warmest Area in room Temperature in Celsius

B) Coolest Area in room Temperature in Celsius Analysis

1) Make two Graphs of your class data. Graph 1 – (Title) Temperatures of the warmest locations in the room - The X axis for you first graph will be labeled (Warmest Location). Let every two blocks represent each location. The Y axis will be labeled (Air temperature) with the unit (degrees Celsius). Start your Y axis with the number 15 and go to 35 with every number being represented by two blocks. Create a bar graph for each location by filling in the temperature bars.

Graph 2 Follow the same procedures as graph 1 but title your graph Temperatures of the coolest locations in the room and label your X axis (Coolest Location). Create a bar graph for the coolest locations

2) What is the control of this experiment?

3) What are the variable of this experiment?

4) What does your graph tell you about the range of your temperatures for warmest and coolest?

5) Usually a graph shows the variable that was tested along one side, or axis, of the graph. Which axis of the bar shows the variable?

6) Usually a graph shows the data that were collected on the other axis of the graph. Which axis of the graph shows the data?