inquiry regarding a skin sesitivity test and variables

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lisa92168
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2020 8:23 am
Occupation: Parent

inquiry regarding a skin sesitivity test and variables

Post by lisa92168 »

Hello my son is doing a science project on testing different parts of his arm and hand to see if he can feel 1 or two toothpicks. therefore to see which part is most sensitive to touch. In this experiment we are using testers made of craftsticks with mostly 2toothpicks attached at different measurements apart. one of the craft sticks will have only 1 toothpick attached. we will touch the person (tester) with random sticks. and chart out the results. here I my question, we are trying to figure out, what would be the independent, dependent , and constant variable in this experiment. please advise
Lisa S.
dcnick96
Former Expert
Posts: 533
Joined: Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:59 pm

Re: inquiry regarding a skin sesitivity test and variables

Post by dcnick96 »

Hello, and welcome to Science Buddies!

This sounds like a fun project. We would like for the student to take a first attempt at identifying your variables.

Independent variables are those you will change to see if it affects the outcome of your experiment.

Dependent variables are those that you’re measuring to see if their outcome changes due to changes in your independent variables.

Controlled variables are those you will keep constant so they don’t change the outcome you of your experiment (ie, they don’t affect your dependent variable)

You can read more about variables here.
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... /variables

Can you clarify what you will be measuring as the outcome? Will you count the number of respondents that gave the correct answer at the different locations or something else?

Write back and give us your initial thoughts on variables, and we’ll go from there.

Good luck!
Deana
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