Understanding the Independent Variable
A Grade 4 science worksheet to help students understand and identify the independent variable in experiments.
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Understanding the Independent Variable
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Read each question carefully and follow the instructions to identify the independent variable.
In a science experiment, we often want to see how one thing affects another. The independent variable is the thing that YOU CHANGE on purpose to see what happens. It's the 'cause' in a cause-and-effect relationship.
1. The independent variable is the part of an experiment that the scientist .
2. We change the independent variable to see its .
3. If you want to know if different amounts of sunlight make plants grow taller, the amount of sunlight is the variable.
4. A scientist wants to test if different types of fertilizer make plants grow faster. What is the independent variable?
The height of the plants
The amount of water
The type of fertilizer
The color of the pots
5. You want to see if playing different kinds of music affects how fast a dog runs. What is the independent variable?
How fast the dog runs
The type of music played
The breed of the dog
The dog's age
6. Sarah wants to find out if eating breakfast helps students do better on a math test. She gives one group of students breakfast and another group no breakfast, then compares their test scores. What is the independent variable in Sarah's experiment?
7. A farmer wants to know if adding more water to his corn plants will make them grow taller. He waters some plants with a little water, some with a medium amount, and some with a lot of water. What is the independent variable?
8. The independent variable is the thing that changes because of what you did.
True
False
9. You only change one independent variable at a time in an experiment.
True
False