SKILLS AND METHODS

Chapter 2.2

Environmental Science2012

Objectives

Describe the steps involved in conducting a scientific experiment

Bell Ringer

List steps that you know that make up the scientific method:

The Scientific Method

The __________ method does not have to go in _______

The exact steps of the scientific method may vary, but all good scientific investigations have _____________ _____________

Observing and Questioning

Observations Can be made directly with the _________ or with the

help of ___________

Senses Tools

Observing and Questioning

Observations are followed by a question The ____________ is based on something that

was ____________________ Example: you observe that people who work

in a particular building often become sick and you ask why What is the observation? What is the question? Can you think of a hypothesis?

Researching

An ______________ step in solving a scientific investigation is to find out what __________ have already ___________ about the topic

Others ______________ can save you steps or your ______________ may have already been proven or disproven

Do you think scientists repeat experiments on purpose?

Hypothesizing

The next step is to develop a hypothesisHypothesis: _________ for an ____________ Example:

Observation: You notice that grass does not grow in certain parts of a lawn

Question: Why does grass not grow in this area? Hypothesis:

____________________________________________

Only ______ hypothesis must be chosen to investigate in an experiment

Hypothesizing

Observation: You notice that grass does not grow in certain parts of a lawn

Question: Why does grass not grow in this area?

Hypothesis: The area is too shady. Now we can make a prediction:

_____________: states what the results of the experiment will be if the hypothesis is ___________

Prediction: ____________________________________________

Designing an Experiment

___________ are used to test ____________The experiment will either:

______________ the hypothesis Not support the hypothesis: can think of a new

hypothesis and ____________

Variables

____________: any factor that affects the outcome of an experiment An experiment should only test ______ variable at a

time Why?

Example: grass example If we test the variables of the amount of water and

sunlight we will not know which variable is actually affecting the grass

Experimental and Control Groups

_____________: has all of the factors that were there when the original observations were made

____________________: has all of the factors that were there when the original observations were made and an additional variable

Grass example: Hypothesis: the grass died because there was no water ____________________: same conditions as original

observations __________________________: same conditions as original

observations and the addition of water

Experimental and Control Groups

Independent Variable: variable being _______ ______________ X-axis of graph

Dependent Variable: the variable being __________________ _______________________ Y-axis of graph

Collecting, Organizing, and Analyzing Data

Scientists collect _____ on the results of the _____________ and the steps they took to conduct the experiment

There are many ways to display data

__________ __________

Collecting, Organizing, and Analyzing Data

Once data has been ______________, must decide what the results mean normally through a written ________________ that comments on the _______________________

Collecting, Organizing, and Analyzing Data

The last step is to _________ their scientific work with others

Scientist’s can communicate through: _________________________ Publish reports of conclusions in ___________________ _________________________

Review

Come up with the following for the observation that flowers sitting in the bathroom are not growing. Question: Hypothesis: Prediction: Design of experiment: Experimental group: Control group: Independent variable: Dependent variable: