Sequencing the Scientific Method
Directions: Below is an example of the Scientific Method being put to use in an effort to learn more about the growth of guinea pigs. Unfortunately the steps are all out of order! Now it’s your job to show how well you understand the steps of the Scientific Method by cutting them out and gluing them down in the correct order. Once you have them in the correct order, be sure to label each step.
Elena realizes there is no significant difference in the weight between the guinea pigs fed Williamson’s Magic Guinea Diet and the guinea pigs fed Super Guinea Grow. According to her data, her Guinea pigs consistently gained 400-500g each. After researching, this trend in growth was certainly extraordinary and could only have been caused by the Magic Diet.
Elena decides to do some research. While reading, “Kip’s Guide to Healthy Guinea Pigs”, Elena learns a guinea pigs body mass is in large part determined by the nutritional value of their diet. She also learns some guinea pig foods are higher in nutritional value and therefore will cause a guinea pig to grow faster and healthier.
While working on a Social Studies project at Taylor’s house, Elena notices that her 2-year old pet guinea pig Tina is much smaller than Taylor’s 2-year old guinea pig Pedro. The next day, Elena asks her Uncle Ricky, “Why would Pedro grow larger than Tina when they are about the same age?” Uncle Ricky simply shrugged his shoulders and said, “I don’t know!”
Elena decides there is no difference in the nutritional value of Williamson’s Magic Guinea Diet and Super Guinea Grow. However, she would like to do the experiment again with a larger number of guinea pigs.
Materials: 4 Guinea Pigs, Williamson’s Magic Guinea Diet, Super Guinea Grow
After purchasing 4 newborn guinea pigs, Elena decides to 1. feed two of them Williamson’s Magic Guinea Diet, and 2. feed the other two Super Guinea Grow. 3. She records their mass each month for four months altogether.
Starting Mass / After 1 Month / After 2 Months / After 3 Months / After 4 MonthsMagic Diet
Guinea Pig 1 / 155 g / 200 g / 360 g / 525 g / 635g
Guinea Pig 2 / 135 g / 180 g / 360 g / 480 g / 570 g
Super Guinea Grow
Guinea Pig 3 / 160 g / 195 g / 325 g / 510 g / 620 g
Guinea Pig 4 / 140 g / 185 g / 315 g / 465 g / 515 g
Elena reasons that Tina’s food, Williamson’s Magic Guinea Diet, has more nutritional value than Pedro’s food, Super Guinea Grow. She makes an educated guess that if she were to feed different guinea pigs the two different foods then guinea pigs receiving Magic Guinea Diet would grow larger faster.
Elena analyzes that data and determines that all Guinea pigs gained weight, but at different rates. It seemed that the Magic Diet guinea pigs gained weight at a faster rate than the Super Guinea Grow animals.