Variables

 

You need to list all of your variables that are applied to the project.  Keep in mind that a variable is anything that can affect the outcome of your project.  The three variable types are listed below as well as a description of what they are.  There is an example provided below for guidance.

 

Constants (formally control variables) -  These are the variables that will remain the same for every test you complete.  These capould be factors in your outcome if you let them change.

 

Independant Variable - This is the variable you are going to test, the one thing that you will be making different on purpose.

 

Dependant Variable - This is the variable you will be looking for.  This is often confused with the answer to the project.  It is broader than that.  If you are loking for the growth of the plant in an experiment, then that is the dependant variable in what ever untis you have choosen, not the plant that grows the most.

 

 

Example:  If Dayspring academy was to have a running race between 5 runners of the same age, sex, height, weight and the experimentor wanted to find out if running shoes really made a difference.  

 

The Constants that would need to be controlled are; the age of the subjects, sex of subjects, weight of the subjects,  on the same track, race at the same time, same food and drink 24 hours prior to the experiment, same clothes, same time raced, etc.  These are all of the things you would want to control to isolate the one variable you want to test, the shoes.

 

The independant variable would be the shoe.  This is what we believe to be the difference in the race.

 

The dependant variable would be the time it took to run the race. (notice it is not the person who runs the fastest.) This must be the thing that we are measuring.  not the winner.