Answers to the scientific method bikini bottom experiments?

Answer 1

Scientific Method Answer Key

Bikini Bottom Experiments

(1) Flower Power

SpongeBob loves to garden and wants to grow lots of pink flowers for his pal Sandy. He bought a

special Flower Power fertilizer to see if will help plants produce more flowers. He plants two plants of

the same size in separate containers with the same amount of potting soil. He places one plant in a sunny

window and waters it every day with fertilized water. He places the other plant on a shelf in a closet and

waters it with plain water every other day.

What did SpongeBob do wrong in this experiment? Explain.

SpongeBob did not provide both plants with the same amount of water and sunshine. In order to test the

fertilizer correctly, both plants should have been placed in the sunny window and watered every day with

the same amount of water. The only difference between the two plants should have been the fertilizer -

one plant would be watered with the water with fertilizer and the other would be watered with plain

water.

(What should SpongeBob do to test the effectiveness of Flower Power fertilizer? Write an experiment.

Answers will vary. Experiments should address the problems in SpongeBob's experiment.

(2) Super Snails

Gary is not the smartest snail in Bikini Bottom and believes he can improve his brain power by

eating Super Snail Snacks. In order to test his hypothesis, he recruits SpongeBob and several snail friends

to help him with the experiment. The snails ate one snack with each meal every day for three weeks.

SpongeBob created a test and gave it to the snails before they started eating the snacks as well as after

three weeks. Analyze the data in the chart and determine whether or not the Super Snail Snacks created

smarter snails!

Based on the data provided, do the Super Snail Snacks work? Explain your answer.

The Super Snail Snacks appear to have worked for Gary and Barry. Both of them increased their test

results after eating the snacks for three weeks. Larry did not show any improvement and Terry scored

lower on his second test. However, it is difficult to determine if the Super Snail Snacks are an effective

way to increase a snail's brain power based on this experiment alone as all the snails ate the snacks (no

control group). The gains shown by Gary and Barry may have been due to the Super Snail Snacks, but

further testing would be needed to make sure the results were not due to other factors.

(3) Bubble Time

Patrick loves bubble gum and would like to be able to blow bigger bubbles than anyone else in

Bikini Bottom. To prepare for the Bikini Bottom Big Bubble Contest, he bought five different brands of

bubble gum and needs your help to find the brand that creates the biggest bubbles. Write an experiment

to test the bubble power of the bubble gum brands and help Patrick win the contest.

Answers will vary. Students should make sure to perform the same test with each brand in order to obtain

reliable results. Repeated trials would generate more data to analyze and help Patrick pick the best

bubble gum brand for the bubble blowing contest.

Extension Idea: Provide an opportunity for the students to try their bubble gum tests!

1 - Patty Power

Which people are in the control group? Group B

What is the independent variable? New sauce

What is the dependent variable? Amount of gas

What should Mr. Krabs' conclusion be? The new sauce appears to work as it reduced the amount of gas

produced in 60% of the people tested.

Why do you think 10 people in group B reported feeling better? They thought they were getting the new sauce as

a result thought that they didn't have as much gas. (Placebo effect)

2 -- Slimotosis

What was the initial observation? Slimotosis on Gary's shell

What is the independent variable? Cures (Seaweed and Dr. Kelp)

What is the dependent variable? Slime and odor

What should Sponge Bob's conclusion be? Although Gary's symptoms have disappeared, it is not known which

cure was the one that worked. He should redo the experiment and include a control group as well as two other

testing groups for each of the proposed cures.

3 -- Marshmallow Muscles

Which person is in the control group? SpongeBob

What is the independent variable? Muscle cream

What is the dependent variable? Amount of marshmallows lifted (strength)

What should Larry's conclusion be? Since both Patrick and SpongeBob improved their results by the end of two

weeks, it does not appear that the claims for the special muscle cream are true. If the claims were correct, we

should have seen Patrick's amount double, but not SpongeBob's amount. The improvements were likely a result

of Larry's special workout.

4 -- Microwave Miracle

What was Patrick's hypothesis? He hypothesized that feeding fish microwaved food would make them become

smarter.

Which fish are in the control group? The fish that eat regular food

What is the independent variable? Microwaved food

What is the dependent variable? Time required to complete the maze

Look at the results in the charts. What should Patrick's conclusion be? According to the data, all but two fish in

each group decreased their time through the maze. The special food does not appear to be a big factor in

helping fish become smarter.

Note: Of the fish that did improve their times, the fish that were fed the special food averaged a 9.625 seconds

decrease in their times compared to an average decrease of 6.625 seconds in the fish group that received the

regular food. This does show a slight improvement for the microwaved food group, but not enough to prove that

his hypothesis was correct. More testing would need to be done

Krusty Krab Breath Mints

1. Which people are in the control group? The people who received the mint without the secret ingredient

(Group B) would be the control group.

2. What is the independent variable? Secret ingredient in the breath mint

3. What is the dependent variable? Amount of breath odor (or bad breath)

4. What should Mr. Krabs' conclusion be? The breath mint with the secret ingredient appears to reduce the

amount of breath odor more than half the time, but it is not 100% effective.

5. Why do you think 10 people in group B reported fresher breath? This may be due to the placebo effect.

Sponge Bob Clean Pants

6. What was the problem? SpongeBob's pants were not clean.

7. What is the independent variable? Laundry soap

8. What is the dependent variable? Amount of dirt left on the pants (or how clean the pants were)

9. What should Sponge Bob's conclusion be? Clean-O laundry soap does not appear to be effective in cleaning

his pants.

Squidward's Symphony

10. What is the independent variable? Instrument

11. What is the dependent variable? Number of jellyfish

12. What should Squidward's conclusion be? The clarinet did seem to attract a large number of jellyfish, but

the average number for the three trials also matched the average for the guitar. The flute attracted the least

number of jellyfish, but the average for this category is still larger than the control. Music seems to attract

jellyfish in greater numbers than when no music is played. Squidward's hypothesis that the clarinet attracts

larger numbers of jellyfish than other instruments is not proven by this experiment alone.

13. Are the results reliable? Based on the limited amount of information provided, it is difficult to tell if

Squidward's results are reliable. The description did not tell how long each break was between trials. Did he

leave enough time for the jellyfish to "clear out" of the area? (NOTE: Accept other potential flaws that

students can support.)

Super Bubbles

14. What did the Super Bubble ads claim? The ads claimed that the Super Bubble solution would produce

bubbles that were twice as large as those made with regular bubble soap.

15. What is the independent variable? Type of bubble solution

16. What is the dependent variable? Size (diameter) of the bubble

17. a. Calculate the average diameter for each. Super Bubble = 15.1 cm Regular Soap = 11.5 cm

b. What should their conclusion be? The Super Bubble solution did not seem to produce bubbles that were

twice as large as those made with the regular soap. Although the average size for the Super Bubble

solution was larger than the average size for the regular soap, it was not "twice as large" as the ads

claimed. In fact, only two of the ten trials had results that would fit the ads claims.

18. Are the results reliable? Why or why not? The description does not say who blew the bubbles for each

solution. There may be differences in bubble sizes due to the person blowing the bubble rather than the bubble

solution. They might have considered having each person blow 5 bubbles with each solution. (NOTE: Accept

other potential flaws that students can support.)