Worked examples
Two examples
Example 1
- A single result can come from chance or from a mistake. One towel might have been a little thinner, or hung in a draft.
- With several towels in each group, one odd towel cannot decide the result.
- If the same result comes up again and again, you can trust it more. That is why scientists use repeated trials: many items, or the same test run more than once.
Answer: So that chance or one mistake is less likely to explain the result
Example 2
- Repeated trials are done by the same person or team: Kenji’s three runs.
- Replication means other people, working separately, repeat the experiment to check its result: the class in Brooklyn.
- Replication is why Kenji writes down exactly what he did. If others can follow his steps and get the same result, the result can be trusted.
Answer: The class in Brooklyn running the same test
Where this is taught: Science Practices, part 3: The scientific method and a fair test · Look Again Quiz 2: The Scientific Method
In your Kaplan book: Unit 4, Chapter 1, Lesson 2: Use the Scientific Method · Map of the Terrain, topic 2: The scientific method
The drill
Ten questions
Read what is in the box first, if there is one. Then tap your answer; a few questions ask you to choose words from a drop-down instead, the way the GED test does. Press Check my answers at the bottom.Read what is in the box first, if there is one. Circle your answer; where there are brackets, circle the choice that fits. The answer key, with the reasoning, is on the last page.