The Scientific Process Critiqued
Read and discuss each scientific experiment. Analyze each experiment’s strengths and weaknesses with
your partner by answering the questions that follow. (You may email, call, text or meet and work on this
together).
Experiment 1:
Five tomato plants of the same height were placed in the same size pots, in the same type of soil and
each was given the same amount of water. Each plant was under a light bulb of the same intensity as
the others but each light was of a different color. Each day, the plants were given light (each its own
color) for 12 hours and left in darkness for 12 hours. The height of each plant was measured in
centimeters at the end of each week for 10 weeks.
Week # 🡺 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Color
Yellow 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Green 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 0 0
Blue 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 6
Purple 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8
Red 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
a. What question is tested by this experiment?
How does the light color affect the height of the plant?
b. Write one null hypothesis and one alternative hypothesis for this experiment.
H0: If the plant is subjected to a different light color, the height of the plant will not be
affected by the color of the light because there is no correlation between light color and growth
rate of the plant.
H1: If the plant is subjected to a different light color, the plant will be affected either
negatively or positively because a different color affects the growth speed of the plant.
c. What are the variables? The independent variable in this experiment would be the color of
the light. The dependent variable would be the growth rate of the plant.
d. What factors are held constant in the experiment?
The factors that are being controlled in this experiment are the light intensity, amount of exposure
to the light, and the amount of time given in darkness, they were given the same amount of water and
the same pots to grow in.
e. Is there a control? If not, what control would you suggest?
There is no control group in this experiment, but if I were to put a control group, I would have a
plant exposed to regular light bulb or a white light.
f. Write a conclusion for this experiment.
In conclusion, the red and yellow lights had the largest effect on the growth of the
plants positively and it was found that the green lights had the largest effect negatively on the
growth rate of the plants.
g. Describe the strengths of this experiment.
It is highly controlled and in a regulated environment that fosters less variables.
h. Describe the weaknesses of this experiment.
The experiment needed to have a control group to be referenced on when collecting data.
Experiment 2:
Five soup cans were painted black and five cans were painted white. A quarter liter of 24°C water was
added to each can each morning at 8 a.m. and the temperature of the water in each can was recorded in
degrees Celsius at noon each day for seven days.
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun
Black #1 45 37 40 41 32 35 40
Black #2 45 37 40 41 32 35 40
Black #3 45 37 40 41 32 35 40
Black #4 45 37 40 41 32 35 40
Black #5 45 37 40 41 32 35 40
White #1 41 33 36 37 28 31 36
White #2 41 33 36 37 28 31 36
White #3 41 33 36 37 28 31 36
White #4 41 33 36 37 28 31 36
White #5 41 33 36 37 28 31 36
a. What question is tested by this experiment?
How does the color of the can whether light or dark affect the temperature of the water over
time?
b. Write one null hypothesis and one alternative hypothesis for this experiment.
H0: If the can color is black or white then the water temperature will not be affected
because the color of the can does not affect the temperature of the water.
H1: If the can color is black or white then the water temperature will be affected
because the color of the can affects the temperature of the water.
c. What are the variables?
The independent variable is the color of the can (black or white) and the dependent variable is
the temperature of the can at the time of data collection.
d. What factors are held constant in the experiment?
The type of can being used and the amount of water in each can, as well as the time of data
collection
e. Write a conclusion for this experiment.
In this experiment it is found that the darker the can color is the more heat it absorbs as
opposed to the lighter colored cans.
f. Describe the strengths of this experiment.
There were many controlled variables.
g. Describe the weaknesses of this experiment.
There were some variables that were not as controlled such as the location of the cans and what the
weather would be like if they were placed outside. There was a lack of a control group which can be
important to have baseline data.
Experiment 3:
A scientist wanted to determine if classical music helped people relax more than rap music. She asked
1,000 20-year-old men and 1,000 20-year-old women to participate in her experiment at the same time
each day, in the same location and under the same conditions. She had each person rest on a bed while
she played a classical music recording for 30 seconds and then she asked them to describe how they felt.
She would then repeat this procedure, playing rap music instead of classical music. She alternated the
type of music played first, but she always used the same sample of classical music and the same sample
of rap music.
a. What question is tested by this experiment?
Will the participants find classical music more relaxing than rap music?
b. Write one null hypothesis and one alternative hypothesis for this experiment.
H0: If the participants listen to classical music and rap then there will be no correlation
between relaxation and the type of music because music does not influence relaxation.
H1: If the participants listen to classical music and rap there will be a difference in
relaxation for the music types because genre of music does affect relaxation.
c. What are the variables?
The independent variable is the type of music and the dependent variable is the relaxation level
found in the participants.
d. What factors are held constant in the experiment?
The participants are either male or female in equal parts of 1000 and they are all 20 years old.
Each person listens to the same excerpt of music in the same amount of time and they are all asked to
describe how they feel.
e. Write a conclusion for this experiment.
In this experiment, it is found that the music genre does have an effect on the relaxation level of
a person.
f. Describe the strengths of this experiment.
It is highly controlled with lots of variables that are kept constant and controlled.
g. Describe the weaknesses of this experiment.
There might be a bias in the participants depending on what music they like more. The answers
could be highly unreliable.
Experiment 4:
A scientist wanted to determine which language is the hardest to learn. He created an experiment using
6,000 African Gray parrots as test subjects. The parrots were left alone in a room with a tape playing all
day and all night. On the tape was the word “hello” repeated 100 times in a row for each of 20
languages. Each day the scientist went into the room and checked to see if any of the parrots had
learned any of the languages.
a. What question is tested by this experiment?
Which language would be the hardest to learn?
b. Write one null hypothesis and one alternative hypothesis for this experiment.
H0: If parrots are subjected to the word “hello” in 20 different languages, there will be
no difference in learning time because there is no difference in difficulty among the languages.
H1: If parrots are subjected to the word “hello” in 20 different languages then there
will be a difference in learning time because there is a difference in difficulty among the
languages.
c. What are the variables?
The independent variable is the language being learned and the dependent variable is the
learning outcome of the parrots.
d. What factors are held constant in the experiment?
The number of repetitions of each language, the environment parrots are being held in, and the
duration of exposure to each language.
e. Write a conclusion for this experiment.
Scientists find that the word “Hello” is easier to learn in some languages than other languages.
f. Describe the strengths of this experiment.
Large sample size and it is in a controlled environment.
g. Describe the weaknesses of this experiment.
There is only one species, and there is no correlation between humans and parrot language
learning that can be applied to the real world.
