Aim: How can we use scientific inquiry to explain how the world

works? DO NOW:

In your notebook, describe what scientific inquiry means to you

Science

• Relies on logic & creativity• Body of knowledge & way of knowing about

the unusual happenings around us called phenomena

• uses the methods of scientific inquiry to explain how the world works

Scientific Inquiry

• Involves questioning, observing, inferring, experimenting, finding evidence, collecting and organizing data, drawing valid conclusions & peer review

• To infer means to make a conclusion based on an observation

• Technique used for this process is called the scientific method, which is made up of steps

The Scientific Method

• State the problem (question)• Formulate a hypothesis (prediction, based on

research)• Test the hypothesis (controlled experiment)• Make observations (data)• Come to a conclusion (answer to the problem)• Repeat the experiment

Research Plan

• Needed if you want to do an experiment• Background information needs to come from

reliable sources: scientific journals, books etc.

Experimental Design

• Large sample size should be used • Experiment should be repeated many times to

get the same results• Experiment should have a control group, in

addition to an experimental group

Improper Scientific Procedures

• Small sample size• Experiment wasn’t controlled well• Fact & opinion intermingled• Not citing adequate evidence• Basing conclusions on faulty, incomplete or

misleading use of numbers• Conclusion doesn’t follow logically from

evidence

Facts, Theories & Laws

• Fact: knowledge based on an experiment & careful observations

• Theory: scientific explanation, of some aspect of the natural world, based on the scientific method

• Law: statement based on repeated experimental observations that describes some aspect of the universe

Summary Questions

1. What is the first step to the scientific method?

2. What do we call a prediction, based on research?

3. How should an experiment be designed?

Video

• https://www.brainpop.com/science/scientificinquiry/scientificmethod/

Homework• On a sheet of looseleaf, define the following 6

terms1. Observation 2. Inference3. Data4. Controlled experiment5. Peer review6. Scientific method