Science Terms
Dr. Vesanum brushed the wild, greying hair from his eyes. He flipped a giant switch on the wall and the lights in the lab gleamed off of the glassware and hundreds of metallic instruments. Liquids bubbled and frothed in strange-shaped containers. A laugh proceeded from deep in his throat and echoed through the chamber.

"At last," he said to himself in the empty room, "today I create my masterpiece. Today I make the perfect piece of toast."

Doctor Vesanum pulled a lever and a door opened. He started pulling out shining, silver objects, some with warnings and dangerous looking symbols printed on them. One seemed to be pulsating violently. Finally, the last item was brought out. It was covered with a thick layer of dust, but the deep slits in the top gave away its function. It was an ancient chrome toaster.

"Where is my lazy assistant?" muttered Dr. Vesanum. "ADSERO!"

Adsero stumbled into the lab, scratching his hunched back through his flannel pajamas. His bristly hair was askew.

"You called, master?"

"Fetch my bread."

Adsero groaned under his breath but within a moment, a cheap store-bought loaf was hoisted to the counter. Dr. Vesanum was muttering to himself.

"About twenty slices divided between five devices... four slices each, about two minutes per experiment..."

Adsero meanwhile had separated the bread into five stacks and was busy spreading peanut butter on one of the leftover pieces. Doctor Vesanum popped a piece of toast into each device. Adsero handed the Doctor a set of goggles which he put on, and Adsero did the same, wiping a trace of peanut butter from his mouth. Doctor Vesanum pointed to the devices at the end of the counter and Adsero positioned his fingers over the switches, buttons and levers that ran the machines. Doctor Vesanum did the same with the first two. He took a deep breath and cried,

"NOW!"

The overhead lights dimmed and flickered, but two minutes later, five pieces of toast were done.

"Adsero, eat the toast."

Dr. Vesanum carefully noted Adsero's reactions to each slice of toast. He had predicted that his nuclear toaster, the violently pulsating one, would produce the best result, but because the toast that came out was light purple, smelled of cabbage, and was moving on its own, Adsero wouldn't touch it. The gizmo with four plugs and bells had turned the bread into smouldering ash. The other results were also noted.

Four times the experiments were repeated and Dr. Vesanum recorded carefully each result. His information looked as follows:

	First trial	Second trial	Third Trial	Fourth Trial
Hot Bread 3000	Soggy - Adsero ate slowly, non-poisonous	Wet - Adsero became sick	Steamy - edible	Wet - barely edible
The Carbonator	Smoky - Adsero ate slowly	Smelled like dust - inedible	Chalky - may be toxic	Smoky - edible
4-plug Inferno	Ash - inedible	Charcoal - inedible	Ash - inedible	Black lump - non-poisonous
Nucleo-crisp	Purple and mobile -inconclusive	Pulsing and humming - inconclusive	Adsero couldn't catch it	Sentient
Old Toaster	Golden-brown, edible	Light golden, edible	Deep brown, edible	Golden-brown, edible

At the end of the day, Adsero was in the corner, clutching his stomach while a purple piece of toast cowered under the counter. Dr. Vesanum looked over his notes.

"Hmph, it seems my Nucleo-crisp may not be quite as good at making toast as I thought. You were right, Adsero, our old toaster was the best choice."

Adsero groaned, catching the doctor's attention.

"You should cut down on peanut butter, my dear assistant. You won't have enough room for dinner tonight. I'm making hamburgers!"

---

Label and identify each of the following in the story:

• materials
• inference
• control
• variable
• bias
• conclusion
• estimation
• data

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