Scientific Method

A step-by-step way to solve problems.

Scientific Method1Step 1Ask a Question (state the PROBLEM)Written in the form of a questionStated clearlyOpen-ended, NOT a yes or no type questionStep 2Do Background RESEARCHCollect informationSometimes from own experience and sometimes from sources such as books, internet, etc.Research needed to help direct problem solving approach

Step 3Construct a HYPOTHESIS (prediction)Hypothesis: an educated guess based on research gathered and prior knowledgeWritten in the form of a statementDoes not include personal pronouns such as I, my, we, etc.Show how two factors relateConsider an if/then statementStep 4Test the hypothesis (EXPERIMENT)Written in a step-by-step procedure formatShould contain multiple trials(Experiment should have a control group and an experimental group)Control Group (or control): standard for comparison in the experiment

Experimental Group contains variable.-Variables: characteristics or details that change within the experiment

There are types of variables:Independent variable: characteristic you change on purpose (also known as the manipulated variable)

Dependent variable: characteristic that responds to the change of the IV (usually what is being measured). Sometimes called the responding variable.

Constants (or controlled variables): details in the experiment that do not change from trial to trial. Help ensure a fair test

Step 5Record and analyze DATAObservations and data recorded in a table, graph or chart.

Types of dataQualitative data: data that describes a property or characteristic (not numerical). (adjectives)

Quantitative data: data that measures numeric information (###)

Step 6State the CONCLUSIONWritten in the form of a statementA brief summary of the results which provides evidence (in the form of data)Restates the initial hypothesisProves or disproves the hypothesisDoes not include personal pronouns such as I, my, we, etc.Makes a real world connection

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