Enrichment · STEM Explorations

Change one thing.
Measure one thing.

A fair test comes down to three lists: what you change, what you measure and what you keep the same. Write them out with values and units, set the trials, and the page checks the design before you spend a weekend on runs that cannot answer the question.

Plan an experimentWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the STEM explorations set, $49 for 9 items.

Your experiments

The worked example is made up: sugar dissolving at four water temperatures, and a plant experiment with too few trials and no unit. Saved on this device only.

Loading the experiment form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Enrichment · STEM Explorations$5

What you finish with
A record per experiment: the question, an if-then hypothesis, the independent variable and each level with the control marked, trials per level, the dependent variable with its unit and method, every controlled variable and its value, and eight design checks. Works out the total runs; flags too few trials or levels, no control, too few controlled variables, a hypothesis without if-then and a measurement without a unit.
Who it is for
Middle and high school students planning a science fair project or a class lab, and the teachers and parents helping them.
Format
Browser planner with a saved record per experiment. Prints one experiment’s design, every experiment in a table or a blank planning sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the STEM explorations set ($49) and the Enrichment Suite pass ($119), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The STEM Explorations space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Write the question and an if-then hypothesis.
  2. Name the one thing you change and its levels.
  3. Name what you measure, with a unit.
  4. List what you keep the same, with values.
  5. Set three or more trials and run the design checks.

Plan an experiment

Three kinds of variable

Three kinds of variableIndependentThe one thing you changeon purposeTested at three or morelevelsExample: watertemperatureDependentWhat you measure to seethe effectA number with a unitExample: seconds todissolveControlledEverything you keep thesameWritten down with itsvalueExample: 5 g sugar, 200mLThree kinds of variableIndependentThe one thing you change on purposeTested at three or more levelsExample: water temperatureDependentWhat you measure to see the effectA number with a unitExample: seconds to dissolveControlledEverything you keep the sameWritten down with its valueExample: 5 g sugar, 200 mL
If two things change at once, you cannot tell which one caused the result. That is the whole reason for controlled variables.

Control or baseline

A control is the level you compare everything else with: room temperature water, a plant in normal light, a ball dropped from the usual height. Without it, “faster” and “taller” have nothing to be faster or taller than.

Why three trials

One run can be off because of a sticky stopwatch or a draft. With three or more you can average the runs and see how far apart they are; if the spread is bigger than the difference between levels, the difference may not be real.

Sources

  1. Society for Science. Science fair project guide and International Rules for Precollege Science Research (societyforscience.org).
  2. NGSS Lead States (2013). Next Generation Science Standards, Science and Engineering Practice 3: Planning and carrying out investigations.
  3. National Research Council (2012). A Framework for K–12 Science Education. National Academies Press.
  4. Science Buddies. Variables in your science fair project (sciencebuddies.org).

The worked examples are made up. Do experiments with heat, chemicals, living things or people only with an adult and your fair’s rules. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.