Gathering Evidence, and Ethics in Science

How evidence is collected properly, and why honesty and care matter in science.

9 questions, free, marked as you go with a worked explanation on every one.

What this covers

In a fair test, how many things should you change at a time?
Why do scientists repeat measurements several times?
Which of these are ethical responsibilities of a scientist? Select all that apply.
What is a variable in an experiment?
Two students get different results from the same experiment. What is the best next step?
Why should you record your observations while doing an experiment, not afterwards?
To keep the test fair, a student rolls the same car down the same ramp four times and measures how far it travels each time: 82 cm, 78 cm, 85 cm and 79 cm. What is the mean distance travelled, in centimetres?
A student is testing whether a new plant food helps bean seedlings grow taller. Why should she also grow some seedlings with no plant food at all?
Use the table. A student ran the same sprouting test four times under the same conditions. Which trial suggests something in the setup went wrong that time?