Do Now!

Brainstorm everything you know about The Scientific Method

What is it?

What is it used for? List examples of when you might use it.

The Object! l  Your group will be given an object l  Your goal is to:

– Ask questions – Gather information – Develop a statement about what the

object is – Have data about the object – Conclude what the object must be – Tell the class about your object

What Is Science?

l  A logical explanation of the ___________________ – ONLY the natural world – Myth, fantasy, supernatural, or dogma

cannot be interpreted with science – Must be based on _____________ and

________________ evidence

Scientific Evidence

l  Data based on observations – 

l How Many? l How much?

–  l Color l Texture

l  Must be objective and without _____ – Not always the case

How is Science Conducted?

l  The Scientific Method –  –  Involves:

l Observation l Asking Questions l Hypothesizing & Experimenting l Collaborating

l  Enables scientists to repeat the work of others

Starts with ______________

l  Ex: l  1976 doctors in Zaire observed

identical symptoms in several disease patients – Severe headaches – Fever – Bloody diarrhea – Vomiting – Eventual death from internal bleeding

Any QUESTIONS???

l  All scientific investigations begin with questions – Result from observations – The reason for conducting an

investigation l  Ex: l  How is the disease transmitted? l  Do all victims die? l  What is the disease causing agent?

Collecting _______

l  Any information gathered when trying to answer questions – Usually the longest phase

l  Different methods: – Observation – Measuring – Sampling – Organizing Data

l  IMPORTANT

Forming a ______________

l  •  Must be TESTABLE •  DOES NOT HAVE TO BE CORRECT! •  It is a guide for your research l  Takes the form of an IF… THEN…

statement –  Ex: IF the threadlike virus is the disease

agent, THEN introducing it to healthy tissue would cause cell death.

Conducting an EXPERIMENT

l  This is how you test your hypothesis l  ________________________

– Compares a Control Group with an Experimental Group

–  Identical except for ONE factor l Called the INDEPENDENT/MANIPULATED

variable l DEPENDENT/RESPONDING variable is

observed

Virus Experiment

l  Control group – Monkey kidney

cells placed in test tubes à

l  Experimental group – Monkey kidney

cells placed in test tubes à

– No infected blood added à

–  Infected patient blood added à

– Cells _______ – Cells _______

Data ___________

l  Process of determining whether data: –  Is reliable – Supports or refutes a hypothesis or

prediction l  Can use statistics to determine

relationships between variables l  Compare data with other studies l  Determine sources of experimental

error

What can you ___________?

l  Goal is to produce a model – An explanation supported by data – Can be visual, verbal, or mathematical – Can often lead to new hypotheses or

predictions l  Ex: Direct contact with the blood of a

person infected with Ebola Virus seems to be the likeliest way to become infected.

Inferences

•  Conclusions made on the basis of prior knowledge / experienceses instead of direct observation

•  Can be used to develop new hypotheses •  Ex: Scientists inferred that Ebola is carried

by a small, forest-dwelling animal (i.e. bat) •  What is this?

Forming a ___________

l  Only possible after MANY related hypotheses have been tested and supported by much experimental evidence. – Few true theories are produced in

science – Can you think of any?

How Scientists View the World

§  Using the scientific method §  Revising and changing hypothesis and

theories – Science is forever changing based on new

data – Science will never have an answer for the

ultimate truth – Science cannot determine beauty or

morality

Science Cannot solve the world’s

problems: It can provide information and

make recommendations. Humanity can then use this data

to make choices.

Lets See the Scientific Method in Action

§  What happens when you mix Diet Coke and Mentos???

Exit Activity - Summary

§  Work with a partner to summarize the concepts we learned about today:

HOMEWORK!!!!!! •  Review Scientific Method in

textbook. •  Complete Scientific Method

Study Guide