Science is all about asking questions. One way to find answers is to experiment. To experiment, you need control of your experiment so you can observe reactions and hopefully find an accurate answer. There are three major types of scientific variables used in a scientific experiment.

  • Independent variables are variables that are manipulated during an experiment. 
  • Dependent variables are the variables that are affected during the experiment. 
  • Control variables allow scientists to know that the experiment is only testing what they want to test.

Scientific Variables & Science Based Games

What are scientific variables? - animated video

Identify independent and dependent variables, interactive

Game: Identifying kinds of variables

Identifying Variables and Designing Investigations in Science (powerpoint)

Cooking with Bill Nye - Dependent and Independent Variables, animated, interactive

Why do scientists ask questions? interactive