Mississippi Science FSL.3C.2

ScienceGrades 9–12Foundations of Science Literacy

The Standard

FSL.3C: Students will apply scientific literacy and thinking skills to analyze scientific investigations found in various experimental designs including, but not limited to, those found in sample ACT science passages.

Determine the validity of scientific questions (e.g., hypothesis) and variables for complex experimental designs.

2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Nature of Science

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students decide whether a scientific question can be answered with measurements. They check whether a hypothesis predicts a measurable result and whether an experiment can separate the effects of two changing factors.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given a bean plant experiment, students identify fertilizer and light as the changing factors and plant height as the measured result. They spot when fertilizer is used only in bright light and propose testing all four fertilizer and light combinations.
Common Misconceptions: Students may accept 'Do plants grow better?' without defining how to measure growth. They may call water a controlled variable even when groups receive different amounts. They may think a two-group test can show which of two changes caused the result.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: A plan gives fertilizer only to bean plants in bright light and none to plants in shade. Name both changing factors, choose a growth measure, and list the four groups needed to test each factor.

Lesson moves

Plant four cups of bean seeds, crossing bright light and shade with fertilizer and no fertilizer, while keeping soil and water equal.
Show two plant growth plans and ask, 'Can either tell whether fertilizer or light caused taller plants? Explain why.'
Give groups cards labeled fertilizer, light, soil, water, and plant height to sort into changing, measured, and controlled variables.
Compare phone battery tests that change screen brightness and app use together, then have students sketch four tests that separate their effects.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to FSL.3C.2, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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