Effect of Environment on New Life Forms

Student Exploration: Effect of Environment on New Life Form
Vocabulary: controlled experiment, hypothesis, variable
Prior Knowledge Question (Do this BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
Johnny likes to watch the birds that visit his birdfeeder. His favorite bird is the cardinal. How
could Johnny determine which kind of birdseed cardinals prefer? Explain your answer in detail.
_ By making an experiment of one week of one certain cardinal to see which one did he eat the
most within the week. _
Gizmo Warm-up
Imagine a new alien life form has just been discovered on a
nearby planet. Your job is to study this new life form. The
Effect of Environment on New Life Form Gizmo shows 100
individuals that have been transported from the planet to your
laboratory.
1. The new life form can have three shapes: thin, medium,
and thick. How many of each shape are there now?
Thin: __26___ Medium: __54__ Thick: __20__
2. Click Play ( ). Do the numbers of each type of alien change over time? ____yes_____
3. Click Reset ( ). A variable is something that can be changed in an experiment. Look on
the SIMULATION pane. What are the three variables you can change in your laboratory?
__Light, water, and temperature_____________
4. Which of these variables do you think will have the greatest effect on the aliens? Explain.
The temperature because of the way they need to change as the temp dose like a