Help me please - project due monday

[5rangers]

My 4th grader is doing "Paw Preference" experiment. You see which paw a dog will use the most. I can not figure out what is the control and independent variable. Can any one help me?

[barretttomlinson]

This is the best reference on dependent and independent variables that I have access to:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... bles.shtml

[elin105]

Hi 5rangers, it looks like the independent variable would be the dog used- for example, dog number 1, dog number 2, etc, and the control variable would be the species of animal (in this case, dog), or type of treat used.

Good luck!

[HeatherL]

Hi 5rangers,

The independent variable is the thing that you change, and the dependent variable is the thing you're measuring. As elin105 explained, the thing you're changing is the identity of the dog, and the thing you're measuring is the paw preference. You're looking to see whether paw preference changes with dog identity - in other words, whether paw preference DEPENDS ON dog identity.

I hope you and your child are enjoying the experiment!

Cheers,
Heather