GACE Middle Grades Science Practice Exam 2025 – The Comprehensive All-in-One Guide to Success!

In an experiment, the independent variable is the factor that is intentionally manipulated or changed by the experimenter to observe its effects on other variables. The impact of this independent variable is reflected in how it influences the dependent variable, which is the outcome or response being measured.

Choosing the dependent variable represents the effect or change resulting from the variation in the independent variable. For example, if you were to test the effect of different amounts of sunlight on plant growth, the amount of sunlight is the independent variable, while the growth of the plant (measured in height, number of leaves, etc.) is the dependent variable that represents the impact of the independent variable.

Other terms such as controlled variables and constant variables refer to characteristics or conditions that are kept the same throughout the experiment to ensure a fair test. An extraneous variable is an outside factor that might influence the results but is not the focus of the experiment. These are important for experiment design but do not represent the direct impact of the independent variable.