Sunflower Seeds

Mr. Toowise was having a difficult time getting his students to get good grades on quizzes. He was trying to think of a way he could positively reward his students. He read an article that said that lab rats that were rewarded with sunflower seeds ran through a maze faster than rats that were not rewarded with sunflower seeds. Mr. Toowise stated, "I think that the more sunflower seeds I promise my students, the better they will do on a quiz." He divded the class into three groups. Group one was promised zero sunflower seeds if they did well on the quiz. Group two was promised 25 sunflower seeds if they did well on the next quiz. Group three was promised 50 sunflower seeds if they did well on the next quiz. The chart below summarizes the results from this experiment:
Group
# Sunflower Seeds Promised
Test Average
1
0
70%
2
25
73%
3
50
71%

Complete each of the following:
  1. Identify the hypothesis: The more sunflower seeds Mr. Toowise gives to his students the better they will do on his tests.
  2. Identify the independent variable: How many sunflower seeds each group recieves
  3. Identify the dependent variable: Test Averages
  4. Identify the other variables Mr. Toowise needs to consider/control during this experiment: -how long they studied -what material they reviewed -how they interpret the information -how Mr. Toowise taught the lesson -study environment
  5. Identify the control group in this experiment: Group one- rewarded zero sunflower seeds
  6. Identify the experimental group(s): Group two- rewarded 25 sunflower seeds Group three- rewarded 50 sunflower seeds
  7. What conclusions might be drawn from this data? Mr. Toowise's conclusion would be that the sunflower seeds didn't make that vast of an impact on their test averages because groups one, two, and three are all very close.
  8. What recommendations might you suggest for further study or for improvement? -Use the same group of students -group students by academic level -more than one quiz -test in a different rooms -run the test more than once