Sunflower Seeds


 


#1

Mr. Toowise was having a difficult time getting his students to get good grades on quizzes. He was trying to think of a way that he could positively reward his students.

#2

He read an article that said that lab rats that were rewarded with sunflower seeds ran though a maze faster than rats that were not rewarded with sunflower seeds.

#3

Mr. Toowise stated, "I think that the more sunflower seeds I promise my students, the better they will do on a quiz."

#4

He divided the class into three groups. Group one was promised zero sunflower seeds if they did well on the next quiz. Group two was promised 25 sunflower seeds if they did well on the next quiz. Group three was promised 50 sunflower seeds if they did well on the next quiz.

#5

Group one received an average of 70% on the quiz. Group two received an average of 73% on the quiz. Group three received an average of 71% on the quiz.

#6

He looked at his results and concluded that the amount of sunflowers promised to students does not effect their quiz scores.

DIRECTIONS: Fill in the Data Table below with the information from the experiment.

DATA TABLE
 
Group
Number of Seeds
Quiz Average
1
   
2
   
3
   

DIRECTIONS: Answer the following questions in full sentences.

  1. What was the problem that Mr. Toowise was trying to solve?
  2. What was his hypothesis?
  3. What was his hypothesis based on?
  4. What Conclusion did he come to?
  5. What was his conclusion based on?
  6. Did his conclusion agree with his hypothesis? What should Mr. Toowise do after he reached his conclusion? (There are several correct answers to this question).
  7. Which group in the experiment was the control?
  8. Name 2 variables in the experiment that were controlled? Think about the experiment that was done above.
  9. What was the independent variable in the experiment?
  10. What was the dependent variable in the experiment?
  11. What Data did he find? (Be specific)

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