Scientific Method

• The scientific method is an organized plan for gathering, organizing, and communicating information.

• The goal of any scientific method is to solve a problem or to better understand an observed event.

Observation

• 1. Observation – is information you obtain with your senses.

• What do you see?

• What do you hear?

• What do you smell?

• What do you feel?

• What do you taste?

observation

What you see

• The most direct way to gain knowledge about something in nature is to observe it.

• Your ability to observe can be extended by using tools such as microscopes, telescopes, thermometers, and rulers.

What you smell

• Many times scientists can identify the presence of a chemical, bacteria, or plant by its scent.

Can you identify the smell in the containers?

Good Smells

Touch and Feel

Texture –rough or smooth

Taste• Determining concentration through taste

What do you hear?

• Scientist record sounds of animals to determine how species communicate with each other.

• Sounds

Making a Question

• After evaluating your observations, ask a question. What do you want to find out? State the problem as a question. Make the question as specific as possible.

• Step_One__Ask_a_Question

Hypothesis

• A hypothesis is a proposed answer to the question you formulated.

• A hypothesis is an educated guess at the possible answer to the question.

• What do you think is the cause of the problem you are studying? State a logical answer to your question. This answer, which is your hypothesis, should give one possible explanation for the cause.Step_Two__Form_a_Hypothesis

Hypothesize

Planned Experiment

• Scientist perform experiments to test their hypothesis.• An experiment must be accurate and précised in order

to be reproducible. • Accuracy – the closeness of a measurement to the true

value of what is measured.• Precision – is a gauge of how exact a measurement is.

In other words, to you get the same results each time or are the measurement values very close each time you measure.

Plan Your Experiment

• The goal of an experiment is to test your hypothesis. What is the variable? What will be the control? Write a clear step-by-step procedure so that another person can repeat the same process

Components of an Experiment

• Variable – in an experiment any factor that can change is called a variable.

• Manipulated Variable – the variable that causes a change in another.

• Responding Variable – the variable that changes in response to the manipulated variable.

• Control Experiment – has two test groups- the control group and the experimental group. The control group is the standard by which any change can be measured.

Vocabulary

• Constant – The factors that are kept the same.

• Variable – The factor that is changed by the person doing the experiment

• Investigative tools

Researching an Experiment

• List the materials necessary to conduct the experiment

• Design the steps and procedures for the experiment.

• Design how data will be collected.

Analyze Data

• Evaluate – Do you see any trends or patterns in the data? Do the data support your hypothesis or prediction? Do you need more information?

Step_Four__Analyze_the_Results_of_the_Experiment

Drawing a Conclusion

• State your conclusion based on your data. Your data should either support your conclusion or lead you to another hypothesis. Have any new questions or problems come up?

• .

Step_Five__Draw_a_Conclusion

Chart

Presentation of Data

• Information obtain from observation can be presented in a variety of forms to make it easier for the viewer to obtain facts quickly.

• Graphs and charts present are some ways to organize and present data.

Review

• The_Five_Steps_of_the_Scientific_Method