Problem solving using the scientific method

What are the steps?• Observe a problem• State the problem• Research the problem• Make a hypothesis• Test your hypothesis• Review your results• Conclusion- Redo hypothesis and retest or

repeat first hypothesis

OBSERVE the PROBLEM:Tell me what it is….

STATE the PROBLEM- Can be more than one

• Steroids– Unfair advantage– Health Risks– Negatively viewed by public– Loss of income– Shame

What problem do you think people think about the least about steroids?

Unfair A

dvan

tage

Health

Risks

Negati

vely

viewed

b...

Loss of in

come

Shame

0% 0% 0%0%0%

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1. Unfair Advantage2. Health Risks3. Negatively viewed

by public4. Loss of income5. Shame

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What do you know about the problem for everyone

RESEARCH the PROBLEM• premature balding or hair loss • mood swings, anger, aggression, and depression • believing things that aren't true (delusion) • extreme feelings of mistrust or fear (paranoia) • problems sleeping, Nausea, vomiting, trembling • high blood pressure that can damage the heart • greater chance of injuring muscles and tendons • urinary problems • shortening of final adult height • risk of developing heart disease, stroke, cancer

What do you know about the problem For MEN

RESEARCH• testicular shrinkage • pain when urinating • breast development • impotence (inability to get an erection) • sterility (inability to have children)

What do you know about the problem for WOMENRESEARCH

• increased facial hair growth • development of masculine traits, such as

deepening of the voice, and loss of feminine body characteristics, such as shrinking of the breasts

• menstrual cycle changes

What is your HYPOTHESIS about the problem?

(Your educated guess as to what will happen)

• If a male takes steroids, then they will have at least 1 more problem compared to a female…

• MUST HAVE IF AND THEN

TESTING YOUR HYPOTHESIS• In this case, can we do a quick lab in class

to figure out if we are right or not????– NO

• We have to set up a long term test• More than one person• Same amount of time• Same amount of drugs• Same type of drugs• Same sport

Keeping things the same….Why?

• Everything that can be controlled in an experiement is called a variable

• In an experiemnt, we want to keep almost everything the same. We call them constant variables.

• Constant variables allow us to eliminate those things from being part of the problem since they are the same for everyone.

Which would be a variable in a experiment involving steroids and health?

People

Types

of Ster

oids Hea

rt

Muscle

s 1

& 3 2

& 4

All the A

bove

None of th

e Above

0% 0% 0% 0%0%0%0%0%

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1. People2. Types of Steroids3. Heart4. Muscles5. 1 & 36. 2 & 47. All the Above8. None of the Above

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Which would not be a variable in an experiment about candy’s effect on attention spans.

Snickers

Choco

late b

ar

Being hyp

er Soda

1 & 2 All

None

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1. Snickers Chocolate bar2. Being hyper3. Soda4. 1 & 25. All6. None

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If everything is the same what are we testing?

• We change only one thing… Like testing males and females. This is called our independent ( or manipulated) variable.

How do we know if we found something?

• If anything happens differently in the experiment we call it the dependent or responding variable

• What would we expect to happen in this experiment? We would expect that males would RESPOND more than women.

What do we do with the results?CONCLUSION

• Once we get the results we compare them with our hypothesis and we say if we were right or wrong. Then we spend the next few sentences talking about how we could make the experiment better or what went wrong in our experiment.

What if our hypothesis was wrong?

• Change your hypothesis and test it again. • Scientists will often change and retest

hundreds or thousands of times

What if my hypothesis was right

• Test it again!!!• Why? Because the more you do it and you

are right, the more valid or truthful your hypothesis becomes

So what are the steps?• Observe a problem• State the problem• Research the problem• Make a hypothesis• Test your hypothesis• Review your results• Conclusion- Redo hypothesis and retest or

repeat first hypothesis

“If I eat well then I will be healthy” This statement is considered to be what?

Control

Variable

Indep

endent V

ariable

Depen

dent Vari

able

Hypothesis

Conclusio

n

Fact

Infer

ence

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1. Control 2. Variable 3. Independent Variable 4. Dependent Variable5. Hypothesis 6. Conclusion 7. Fact 8. Inference

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If I am testing “plant growth vs. fertilizer” and I change the amount of water, what did

I just change?

Control

Variable

Indep

endent V

ariable

Depen

dent Vari

able

Hypothesis

Conclusio

n

Fact

Infer

ence

0% 0% 0% 0%0%0%0%0%

1. Control 2. Variable 3. Independent Variable 4. Dependent Variable 5. Hypothesis 6. Conclusion 7. Fact 8. Inference

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If I am testing “plant growth vs. fertilizer” what is the fertilizer?

Control

Variable

Indep

endent V

ariable

Depen

dent Vari

able

Hypothesis

Conclusio

n

Fact

Infer

ence

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1. Control 2. Variable 3. Independent Variable 4. Dependent Variable 5. Hypothesis 6. Conclusion 7. Fact 8. Inference

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If I am testing “plant growth vs. fertilizer” what is the plant growth?

Control

Variable

Indep

endent V

ariable

Depen

dent Vari

able

Hypothesis

Conclusio

n

Fact

Infer

ence

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1. Control 2. Variable 3. Independent Variable 4. Dependent Variable 5. Hypothesis 6. Conclusion 7. Fact 8. Inference

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After testing an experiment I changed the hypothesis, what part

of the scientific method am I in?

Obse

rve a

problem

State t

he problem

Resea

rch th

e pro

blem

Mak

e a hyp

othes

is

Test y

our h

ypothes

is

Review

your

results

Conclusio

n

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1. Observe a problem2. State the problem3. Research the

problem4. Make a hypothesis5. Test your hypothesis6. Review your results7. Conclusion

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After observing Billy crying I went to find out why. What part of the

scientific method am I in?

Obse

rve a

prob

lem

State t

he problem

Resea

rch th

e problem

Mak

e a hy

pothesis

Test y

our h

ypothes

is

Review

your

resu

lts

Conclusio

n

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1. Observe a problem2. State the problem3. Research the problem4. Make a hypothesis5. Test your hypothesis6. Review your results7. Conclusion1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

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