Help! I don't know what these experiment terms mean?

Question

Control Groud

Independent Variable

Depebdebt Variable

Conclusion

Group*

Answer 1

They should be defined in your lab manual or textbook. If not, then they can easily be looked up online.

Answer 2

When one sets up an experiment it is good to have a control group where nothing is changed and experimental groups where you do something to them. The independent variable (the X axis in a graph, usually) is the thing you change, the dependent is what gets changed as a result (the Y axis in a graph, usually).
You could have plants in your garden that all have the same soil and fertilizer and water where one row you leave alone (the control), and one group has shading, another row has more shading, and the 3rd group has the most. In that case the amount of shading is the independent variable (you changed it) and the eventual growth of the plants (how big they get) is the dependent variable. The control group got no extra shading at all. Your conclusion could be seen by graphing amount of shading on the X axis and the eventual total height of the plants on the Y. You could then "conclude" as to whether shading seems to have an effect on how high the plants grew and whether any of the shaded plants were any different from control plants. To do it right...you would have to have several plants in each group and run statistical tests on the final plant height numbers to compare groups. Just one example!