Scientific control
![Take identical growing plants and give fertilizer to half of them. If there are differences between the fertilized group and the unfertilized](/Images/godic/202502/18/Starr_011107-0010_Argyroxiphium_sandwicense_subsp._macrocephalum2907.jpg")
A scientific control is an experiment or observation designed to minimize the effects of variables other than the independent variable. This increases the reliability of the results, often through a comparison between control measurements and the other measurements. Scientific controls are a part of the scientific method.