Lab 5: Can You Feel the Difference?

Warm Up: Explain what you think a variable is.

Vocabulary:
1. Variable - the one thing that is changing in an experiment

Observation:
What is more sensitive Finger, Palm, Forearm?

Table 1: Observations of Touch Sensitivity
*Where were you more sensitive?

Analysis Questions:
1. Which part of your arm – your fingers, palm, or forearm – was the most sensitive to touch? What data do you have to support your conclusion?

2. In your group, how many people found fingers to be the most sensitive part of their arm? How many found palms or forearms to be the most sensitive? How similar were different individuals' responses to touch?

3. Why is it important for the person being tested to close his or her eyes?

4. Before scientists make comparisons, it is important that the scientists perform a well-designed experiment. In a well-designed experiment, all of the variables, except the one being tested, are kept the same.

4.a. In your experiment, what variables did you keep the same?

4.b. Were there any variables (except for the one being tested) that you could not keep the same?