--- title: Let's test it! Experiments and fair tests — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Let's test it! Experiments and fair tests», a lesson of the myths course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Ava's gran chats to her tomatoes every morning and swears they grow faster for it. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Myths](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/) / Let's test it! Experiments and fair te… # Let's test it! Experiments and fair tests Lesson 29 of the myths course of Mova's primary school: 18 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/0/) — Ava's gran chats to her tomatoes every morning and swears they grow faster for it. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/1/) — Ava doesn't sneer; she sets up two seed trays instead. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/2/) — A fair test changes only ONE thing: same seeds, same soil, same water, same window, and only one tray gets talked to. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/3/) — If you change two things, you can't tell which one made the difference. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/4/) — Then you count and measure, because memory is a liar: you remember the toast that landed butter down and forget the ones that didn't. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/5/) — Repeat it many times, write the results down, and be ready for three honest endings: "the saying is wrong", "it's partly right", or "even scientists aren't sure yet". - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/6/) — Some tests are for grown-ups only, like anything hot; the rule is, if it's hot, sharp or electric, a grown-up runs it. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/7/) — Studies on talking to plants are mixed; any effect might come from breath, attention or extra care, so it is not proven. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/9/) — Toast falling off a table often turns about half a turn before it lands, so it lands butter side down quite often from table height; a scientist tested this with lots of toast. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/10/) — Modern phones stop charging when the battery is full; heat harms a battery more than charging overnight. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/11/) — Tests found that a spoon in an open fizzy bottle makes no difference; a tight lid keeps the fizz best. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/12/) — A banana is a good snack, but it does not prevent cramp in sport for most people. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/13/) — Ordinary paper is very hard to fold in half more than about seven times, but in 2002 a student, Britney Gallivan, folded a very long thin strip 12 times. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/14/) — Without air in the way, heavy and light things fall at the same speed; on the Moon in 1971 an astronaut dropped a hammer and a feather and they landed together; on Earth, air pushes against light, wide things like a feather and slows them, and a sheet of paper laid flat on top of a book falls with it, because the book keeps the air off it. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/15/) — Plants need light, water, air and nutrients (plant food from the soil); they do not need music, and studies on sound and plants are unclear. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/16/) — Sugar dissolves (breaks up and vanishes into the water) faster in warm water than in cold, because the tiny particles of warm water move faster. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/17/) — A fair test changes only one thing and keeps everything else the same. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/29-let-s-test-it-experiments-and-fair-tests/18/) — Counting many tries is better evidence than remembering a few. - ← previous: [Where did you read that? Checking sources](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/28-where-did-you-read-that-checking-sources/) - next →: [How would we know? Asking experts and spotting tricks](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/30-how-would-we-know-asking-experts-and-spotting-tricks/) - ↑ back to [Myths](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/myths/)