How should students approach modifying their experiments to ensure reliable results?

Limiting changes to one variable at a time is crucial for ensuring reliable results in an experiment. This approach is rooted in the scientific method, which emphasizes the importance of isolating variables to establish a clear cause-and-effect relationship. When only a single variable is altered while keeping all other conditions constant, it allows students to observe the direct impact of that specific change on the outcome of the experiment.

By adopting this method, students can accurately determine which variable is responsible for any observed effects. If multiple variables were changed at once, it would become difficult to interpret the results, as it would be unclear which change caused any variations in the data collected. This practice not only improves the validity of the experiment but also enhances students' understanding of the scientific process and strengthens their analytical skills.