Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My 3rd Grade son conducting his first science project experiment. While I am educated, I have never done a science fair project previously and do not have a significant background in science. He is in the beginning stages of research and the teacher would like him to list at least 3 variables. She does not differentiate between types of variables. So far, he has listed weather and location as the first 2 of 3. What other variables can he use? He would like to collect germs from public places as well as in our home. He will swab toilets, faucets, and light switches for germs. Please help! Thanks so much!

Hi,

If you are new to science fairs it will probably help to read through all the pages of the Science Buddies Project Guide:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... ndex.shtml

In particular if you read these pages on variables the answer to your question may become clear:

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

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

Best regards,

Barrett L Tomlinson

Hello there,

In addition, I just wanted to add that there are two types of variables: independent and dependent. Independent variables are the things you can control and you only want to manipulate one independent variable at a time so that you can be sure that the results are due to that particular variable you changed. Dependent variables are the ones that represent your results, or data that you're collecting, which you cannot control.
So, for this experiment, I would suggest that location is your independent variable and maybe you can add the amount of germs collected as another dependent variable....Just a suggestion...weather is also a great idea as weather can definitely make an impact on the amount of germs collected...

Hope that helps!
Post if you have any more questions!
Prasad