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In Science we often talk about controlled experiments and the control in an experiment. What do these terms mean?

Controlled variables

A controlled experiment has controlled variables. This means that all variables, except the one variable that you are changing, are kept the same.

All of these factors have to be thought about and decided on when planning the experiment.

The control

A control makes sure that the experiment is valid. It has all the same variables as the experiment but not the one variable that you are changing. This means that any differences in results can be because of the one variable that is different.

Two containers with beads, one covered with a sunglass lens.

The control on the left has the same number and colour of beads and the same container, the difference is that one is covered with a sunglass lens

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