Teach students how to design a controlled experiment by identifying variables that can be changed and measured.
Preview · progress not saved — Chapter 1 is free
Science is everywhere
You don't need a fancy laboratory to do science! Your kitchen at home is the perfect place to start a systematic investigation. Simply observing an everyday phenomenon—like a puri or bhatura puffing up in hot oil—can spark a great scientific question.
Practice applying the one-variable rule.
When trying to understand everyday phenomena, we must observe and act like scientists. For example, we might wonder why a puri puffs up differently under various conditions.
To test this, we identify the things we can control, such as the type of flour or the temperature of the oil. We also need to think about what we can observe or measure to see if these changes made a difference.
When conducting an experiment, to make sense of the changes, it is better to change only thing at a time while keeping the other conditions the .
This methodical approach to testing and recording observations is known as a investigation.
How to set up a scientific test using variables.
When you observe a simple phenomenon like a puri puffing up, you can investigate it like a real scientist. A systematic investigation involves deciding what you can control, and identifying what you can measure.
Visual of a kitchen experiment setup.
Things we can change/control
Things we can observe/measure