A scientist is interested in conducting a fair test to determine how important sunlight is for plants that grow in shady places.

Question

What should the scientist do to make sure she conducts a fair test?

Responses

The scientist should measure everything at least twice to prevent any possible mistakes.
The scientist should measure everything at least twice to prevent any possible mistakes.

The scientist should test more than one question to make sure she avoids leaving anything out.
The scientist should test more than one question to make sure she avoids leaving anything out.

The scientist should change only one variable in her scientific investigation.
The scientist should change only one variable in her scientific investigation.

The scientist should change at least two variables in her scientific investigation.

Answer 1

To conduct a fair test, the correct approach for the scientist is:

The scientist should change only one variable in her scientific investigation.

By only changing one variable (in this case, the amount of sunlight), the scientist can accurately determine its effect on the plants that grow in shady places. This allows her to isolate the impact of sunlight while keeping other factors constant, leading to valid and reliable results.