NAME: ______Period. ______

Drawing Conclusions

  1. An experiment was conducted to see how air temperature affects a snake’s ability to move. The hypothesis for the experiment was if the snake is in warmer the temperatures, then the snake will move to the food faster. The experimenter placed the snake a fixed distance away from a piece of food and measured the air temperature. She then recorded the time it took for the snake to reach the food. She repeated the experiment four more times, each time with a different temperature. Her data are summarized in the chart.
Temperature (oC) / Time (seconds)
4 / 51
10 / 50
15 / 43
21 / 37
27 / 35

 Write a conclusion statement for this experiment.

  1. A group of students wished to determine the effect of adding fertilizer to growing plants. Their hypothesis was if greater amounts of fertilizer are used then the greater the plant growth will be. They started with three of the same type of plant, each one foot tall. All plants were given the same amount of water and sunshine. The plants were grown for 2 weeks and data were collected.

Plant / Amount of fertilizer given / Height after two weeks
A / none / 17”
B / 1 teaspoon / 19”
C / 2 teaspoons / 20”
D / 3 teaspoons / 18”

 Write a conclusion statement for this experiment.

  1. Sometimes farmers grow crops of rye and other grasses and then plow them under the soil to decay. This practice helps to increase crop yields of other plants. Farmers may also plow under legumes such as peas, vetch and lentils. Legumes are plants that have nitrogen-fixing bacteria living in nodules on the plant roots. Nitrogen is a key component in most commercial fertilizers.

Scientists performed an experiment in Georgia, where they grew corn on land that had previously received one of five treatments as outlined in the chart. Three fields had previously been planted with three different types of legume, a fourth field had been planted with rye and a fifth field previously had been left bare prior to planting. None of the fields received fertilizer while the corn was growing. The table shows the yield (total crop production) for each treatment. The scientists’ hypothesis was if any type of plant was plowed into the soil then the yield of corn will increase equally.

Previous crop / Corn production (kg/ha)
Monatha vetch / 2876
Hairy vetch / 2870
Austrian peas / 3159
Rye / 1922
None / 1959

 Write a conclusion statement for this experiment.

  1. An experiment was designed to test if human body tissues all have equal need for blood supply (which delivers both oxygen and food energy to the cells of those tissues). The hypothesis was all tissue types will use blood equally based on their mass (size). The following chart lists various human body tissues and organs in order by size, with the largest first, the smallest last. The data shown is percentage of total blood flow that passes through that tissue or organ.

Blood Flow Through Human Organs

Organ or tissue / Percentage of total flow
Skeletal muscle (at rest) / 18%
Skeletal muscle (during exercise) / 75%
Liver / 13%
Brain / 14%
Lungs / 100%
Kidneys / 22%
Heart (tissue itself) / 5%

 Write a conclusion statement for this experiment.