Experiment #2
Like a dedicated scientist, Mr. Curiosa did not give up. He preserved with his efforts to demonstrate
that he had made a better, healthier dog food. He wanted to prove that his special formula worked.
Sometime later, his son brought home a Black Labrador puppy named Coal. So, Mr. Curiosa went to his local
dog shelter and brought home an adorable puppy that looked like a dachshund. He named this puppy Chip.
Thus began his second experiment.
Mr. Curiosa added his special vitamin mixture to some commercial dog food and labeled it A. Then he took the
same commercial dog food but this time he did not add any of his vitamins. He labeled this dog food B. Coal
received food A and Chip received food B.
For an entire year Mr. Curiosa made sure that each dog got their own food. He brought the dogs to his
company picnic and proudly showed them off. Coal, the black Labrador, had grown twice as big as Chip who
was part Dachshund.
"You think you made some fancy dog food, huh?" one friend said. "You can not prove that your special dog
food is better. Labradors always grow bigger than Dachshunds! His larger size had nothing to do with your
fancy dog food." Mr. Curiosa realized that his friend was right. He had made a mistake in his second
experiment.

Questions for Experiment #2:
1. Which one of the steps in the scientific method did Mr. Curiosa improve on his second experiment?

2. What did Mr. Curiosa do differently?

3. Why was this change important?

4. Why were Mr. Curiosa's results inconclusive?