THE SCIENTIFICMETHOD

“WHAT IS SCIENCE?”

PAGE 5 IN ISN

WHAT IS SCIENCE?

•THE SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF THE

NATURAL WORLD

•SYSTEMATIC = STRUCTURED,

ORGANIZED

LIFE SCIENCE• BIOLOGY

•“BIOS” = LIFE

• STUDY OF LIVING

THINGS

•“HOW DO PLANTS

PRODUCE FOOD?”

EARTH SCIENCE

• Geology

• “Geo” = Earth

• Study of the interior

and surface of Earth

• “How do volcanoes

form?”

PHYSICAL SCIENCE•PHYSICS/CHEMISTRY

•STUDY NONLIVING

MATTER AND

ENERGY

• “HOW DO

ELECTROMAGNETIC

WAVES TRAVEL

THROUGH SPACE?”

PSEUDOSCIENCE•WHAT IS PSEUDOSCIENCE?

•PSEUDO = FAKE/FALSE

•BASED ON INCORRECTLY APPLIED SCIENTIFIC

METHODS

• EX. ASTROLOGYor Alchemy

WHAT IS SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY?

•WHY DO WE INQUIRE/INVESTIGATE?

•TO ANSWER A QUESTION

•TO SOLVE A PROBLEM

•SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY IS A SERIES OF SKILLS USED

TO ANSWER QUESTIONS/SOLVE PROBLEMS IN

THE NATURAL WORLD

•SCIENCE BEGINS WITH AN OBSERVATION

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

• WHAT WE KNOW

How we know what we know

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IS…

•A SERIES OF STEPS USED

BY SCIENTISTS TO SOLVE

A PROBLEM OR ANSWER

A QUESTION.

STEPS IN THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

•OBSERVATION

•QUESTION

• HYPOTHESIS

• EXPERIMENT

• COLLECT DATA

• CONCLUSION

• SHARE RESULTS/RETEST

• HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=SMGRE824KAK

•RASPBERRIES DID NOT GROW WELL THIS YEAR.

•OBSERVATION

•WHY DID THE RASPBERRIES NOT GROW WELL THIS

YEAR?

• QUESTION

• THE RASPBERRIES DID NOT GROW WELL BECAUSE

WE DID NOT GET MUCH RAIN.

• HYPOTHESIS

•RASPBERRY PLANTS ARE PLACED IN

AREAS ALL RECEIVING THE SAME AMOUNT

OF LIGHT EACH DAY.

• EACH PLANT WILL RECEIVE DIFFERENT

AMOUNT OF WATER.

• THE SIZE OF THE BERRIES WILL BE RECORDED DAILY

ONCE THE PLANTS BEGIN TO PRODUCE BERRIES.

Experiment

• THE RASPBERRY PLANTS RECEIVING

• 1 CUP OF WATER DAILY = 1/2 " IN DIAMETER

• 2 CUPS OF WATER GREW = 3/4 " IN DIAMETER.

• 3 CUPS WATER = 1 INCH IN DIAMETER

Data

•MOST WATER = GREW THE BIGGEST.

•THEREFORE, THE HYPOTHESIS IS

SUPPORTED THAT THIS YEAR'S

RASPBERRIES DID NOT GET ENOUGH

RAIN.

•CONCLUSION

“SCIENTIFIC METHOD FOLDABLE”PAGE 5 IN ISN

• TAKE OUT 4 PIECES OF LINED PAPER

OBSERVATION

•GATHERING INFORMATION THROUGH

YOUR SENSES:

•SIGHT, SMELL, TOUCH, SOUND, TASTE

WHAT IS DATA?

•DATA IS THE INFORMATION GATHERED

FROM MAKING OBSERVATIONS.

•QUANTITATIVE DATA:

•NUMBERS: OBTAINED BY COUNTING OR

MEASURING SOMETHING

•QUALITATIVE DATA:

•DESCRIPTIONS

•INVOLVE CHARACTERISTICS THAT

CANNOT BE COUNTED.

•USES YOUR SENSES (SIGHT,

SMELL, TOUCH, TASTE, SOUND)

QUALITATIVE VS. QUANTITATIVE(PAGE 7 IN ISN)

•MAKE A DOUBLE BUBBLE MAP

•YOU MAY WORK WITH A PARTNER

•15 MINUTES

HYPOTHESIS

•A HYPOTHESIS IS A SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION

FOR A SET OF OBSERVATIONS.

•A POSSIBLE ANSWER TO A QUESTION, AND IT

MUST BE THOROUGHLY TESTED.

•OBSERVATION:

•A PROBLEM OR A QUESTION MUST FIRST BE

IDENTIFIED.

• HYPOTHESIS:

• A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION TO THE QUESTION OR

PROBLEM.

EXPERIMENT

•YOU MUST IDENTIFY FACTORS THAT CAN AFFECT

THE EXPERIMENTS OUTCOME

•VARIABLE: ANY FACTOR THAT CAN HAVE MORE

THAN ONE VALUE

•INDEPENDENT VARIABLE:

•THE FACTOR YOU WANT TO TEST.

•WHAT YOU CHANGE

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

• EXAMPLE:

•YOU WANT TO SEE HOW DIFFERENT LIQUIDS AFFECT

A PEA PLANTS GROWTH

•YOU PLANT 3 PEA PLANTS AND GIVE ONE PLANT

VINEGAR, ANOTHER PLANT SODA AND THE

ANOTHER PLANT COFFEE

•WHAT IS THE THING YOU CHANGE IN THIS

EXPERIMENT?

• TYPE OF PLANT?

• TYPE OF LIQUID?

DEPENDENT VARIABLE

• THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE IS THE FACTOR YOU WANT TO OBSERVE

• EXAMPLE:

• WHAT ABOUT THE PEA PLANTS DO WE WANT TO OBSERVE?

• THE COLOR?

• THE HEIGHT?

• THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE CHANGES WHEN THE INDEPENDENT

VARIABLE CHANGES

IndependentDependent

• EXAMPLE RESULTS:

• THE PEA PLANT THAT RECEIVED VINEGAR = GREW A LITTLE

• THE PEA PLANT THAT RECEIVED SODA = DID NOT GROW AT ALL

THE PEA PLANT THAT RECEIVED COFFEE = GREW VERY TALL

IndependentDependent

(What we

changed)

(What changed

depending on

the liquid)

ANALYZE RESULTS AND DRAW CONCLUSIONS

• VINEGAR IMPROVES THE PLANTS PH

• COFFEE GIVES THE PLANT MORE NITROGEN

• PH = LESS IMPORTANT

• NITROGEN – VERY BENEFICIAL

• SUGAR PREVENTS PLANTS FROM ABSORBING WATER

• SODA = BAD

WHAT STAYED THE SAME THE WHOLE TIME?

• TYPE OF PLANT! (PEA PLANT)

• WE CALL THIS A CONSTANT BECAUSE IT STAYS THE SAME DURING THE

EXPERIMENT

• WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF WE USED 3 DIFFERENT PLANTS?

• RESULTS NOT RELIABLE!

• MAYBE ONE SPECIES OF PLANT GROWS FASTER THAN ANOTHER

• WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF WE PUT THE PLANTS IN DIFFERENT

AMOUNTS OF SUNLIGHT?

• RESULTS NOT RELIABLE!

• HOW DO WE KNOW THE PLANT WITH VINEGAR DIDN’T GROW

WELL BECAUSE IT WAS IN THE SHADE?

•WHAT DID WE CHANGE?

•KIND OF LIQUID (VINEGAR, SODA, COFFEE)

• THIS IS THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

• INDEPENDENT = I CHANGE

•WHAT DID WE WANT TO OBSERVE?

•GROWTH/HEIGHT

• THIS IS THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE

• THE HEIGHT OF THE PLANT DEPENDS ON WHAT

TYPE OF LIQUID WE USED

• CONSTANT:

• SAME SOIL

• SAME AMOUNT OF LIGHT

• SAME PLANT

• IF THESE ARE ALL DIFFERENT, HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT

CAUSED THE PLANTS TO GROW/NOT TO GROW?

•WHAT IS THE CONTROL?

•CONTROL = SAMPLE THAT ISN’T CHANGED

•ALL RESULTS ARE COMPARED TO THIS

•WHAT WAS OUR CONTROL?

•WATER!

•WE ALREADY KNOW THAT PLANTS GROW

RELIABLY WHEN THEY ARE BEING GIVEN WATER

EXPERIMENTAL VARIABLES FOLDABLEPAGE 8 IN ISN

• CONTROL:

• SAMPLE THAT IS NOT CHANGED

• ALL RESULTS ARE COMPARED BACK TO THIS

• CONSTANT:

• VARIABLE THAT STAYS THE SAME BETWEEN EACH GROUP OR SAMPLE

• INDEPENDENT (TEST) VARIABLE:

• “I” CONTROL

• TEST VARIABLE CONTROLLED BY YOU

• THE “IF” IN THE ”IS THIS THEN” STATEMENT

• PLOTTED ON THE X AXIS

• DEPENDENT (OUTCOME) VARIABLE

• YOU DON’T CONTROL

• DATA YOUR RECORD

• OUTCOME VARIABLE

• THE “EFFECT” IN CAUSE/EFFECT

• PLOTTED ON THE Y-AXIS

INDEPENDENT VS DEPENDENTPAGE 9 IN ISN

• COPY THIS INTO ISN (MAKE SURE YOU CHANGE THE COLOR OF THE LETTERS):

• DEPENDENT VARIABLE (OUTCOME)

• THE FACTOR THAT YOU OBSERVE OR MEASURE

• CHANGES AS A RESULT OF THE MANIPULATION OF THE INDEPENDENT (TEST)

VARIABLE

• I DON’T CONTROL THE CHANGE!

• INDEPENDENT VARIABLE (TEST)

• THE FACTOR THAT YOU WANT TO TEST

• THE FACTOR THAT AFFECTS THE VALUE OF THE DEPENDENT (OUTCOME)

VARIABLE

• IN AN EXPERIMENT, YOU CONTROL THE VALUE OF THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

• I CHANGE THIS ON PURPOSE!

•WORK ON THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

WORKSHEET WITH A PARTNER

THEORY VS. LAW

THE METRIC SYSTEM