This worksheet is a clear template for planning an experiment, thinking about the independent variable, dependent variable and control variable.

I use this with these cards /teaching-resource/variable-cards-ks2-science-13649130 , but it could absolutely be used without.

The way I use it is this - they choose a topic (my students choose from my variable cards but you could choose without these).

Then they list all of the variables that could impact it. They choose one to base a question about - for example if the topic is melting ice and one of the variables is the surface it is on, maybe they could ask ´does the surface an ice cube is on impact the speed it melts?´

Then we fill in the independent variable (which in this case, would be the surface under the ice cube), the dependent variable (the speed the ice cube melts), and then we place all of the other variables in the control variable box.