The Scientific Method of

Investigation

Communicate Results

Scientific Question

Hypothesis

Procedure

The Scientific Method

Conclusions

Results

Experiment

Problem Solving at its BEST!

Scientists ask questions about things they want to know more

about.

PURPOSE: To solve a problem!

The Scientific Question/ProblemThe process starts with an

observation, a question or a problem.

What do you want to find out?

Sample Experiment

Scientific Question:

•Which gets hotter in the sun; water in a

black cup or water in a white cup?

Try it!Work together to

write a question that can be answered by experimenting.

Make sure there is a testable factor or independent variable!

A scientist changes ONE factor (independent

variable) and observes or measures what

happens (dependent variable) and keeps ALL

OTHER factors (controls) the same.

Controls and Variables

• INDEPENDENT variable - The factor that is changed: “ I change”

•DEPENDENT variable - The factor that is measured or observed: “It changes”

Variables

Ex. Who has a faster reaction time boys or girls?

IV: DV:

VARIABLE PRACTICE

Will Coke or Mountain Dew keep you awake longer at

night?

IV?DV?

Controls • The scientist makes a special effort to keep other factors constant so that they will not affect the outcome.

• Those factors are called CONTROLS Factors that stay

the SAME!

• This also ensures for a FAIR experiment!

Ex. Who has a faster reaction time boys or girls?

Controls:1. SAME start line2. SAME ruler3. SAME age4. SAME time of day5. SAME start method ETC!

CONTROL PRACTICE

Sample ExperimentControls and

Variables:Which gets hotter in the

sun; water in a black cup or water in a white cup?

• Name the IV and DV• Identify 3 controls

Hypothesis•A hypothesis is a guess about what might happen in an experiment based on research or background information.

• A hypothesis is just your educated

guess :

I think ___ because ____.

Try it! With your group, come up with a hypothesis for this scientific question: If I flip a coin ten times, how many times will the coin show “heads”?I think __________ because _____.

Now flip a coin ten times.Was your hypothesis correct?

Sample ExperimentHypothesis:

• I think the water in the black cup will get hotter because I know that when I wear a black t-

shirt in the summer my temperature increases.

Preparing to Experiment

1. Need to gather your materials

2. Design a procedure

Materials•All items to carry out your experiment are your materials.

•Be sure to list everything you use and the quantities (numbers) needed. Be very detailed!

Try it!List all of the materials that

you would use to make a peanut butter and jelly

sandwich.

Procedure•The procedure should list step

by step directions on how you did your experiment.

• It should be detailed enough so that someone could follow your procedure and get the same results.

12345

•Are the steps numbered?•Are the directions written as commands?•Did you write one direction per line?•Are measurements/amounts included?•Are the directions detailed and specific?•Do the directions follow an orderly progression?

How to Write Procedure

Try it!Write the procedure for how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Sample ExperimentMaterials:

• 1 (10 ml) black plastic cup• 1 (10 ml) white plastic cup• 20 ml of water• 2 thermometers

Sample Experiment Procedure:1.Fill each cup (black and white) with 10 ml of water at 10 *C.2.Place a thermometer in each cup.3.Place the two cups in a sunny location.4.Observe and record the temperature of the water in each cup every 30 minutes for three hours.

Results and Observations• Results are exactly what happens during your experiment/use your senses and your science vocabulary.

• Be specific and detailed in your explanation.

• Show your results on a graph, on a table, or explain it in words.

Try it!•Blast a pipette full of vinegar onto 5 grams of baking soda.

•Describe your results with scientific and sensory terms •How could you make a quantitative (number) graph?

Sample Experiment

Time 12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00

Temp 60 60 62 63 64 65 67

White Cup (All temperatures in degrees Celsius)

Black Cup

Time 12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00

Temp 60 62 65 67 69 71 74

Table of Results

Graph of Results

12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:000

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

White Cup

Black Cup

time

temperature

Written ResultsAs I observed the temperature of the two

cups, I noticed that the temperatures started to differ by the end of the first half hour. The water in the black cup was 2 degrees celsius higher. (black= 62, white= 60) After an hour, the water in the white cup was 62, and the

black cup was 65. The water in the black cup continued to rise above the white cup. After 3 hours the water in the white cup was 67 degrees, while the water in the black cup

heated to 74 degrees celsius.

Conclusions•Conclusions are ideas that we have

or connections that we make after we finish an experiment.

1. Restate the question2. Answer the question with

trends in your data.3. Make a summary statement.

Sample Experiment

• The water in the black cup heated up faster than the water in the white cup. By experimenting, I found that the water in the black cup heated up faster by 10 degrees then the white cup and reached a higher temperature. Black is a color that absorbs the heat.

Conclusion:

Communicate Results

•Communication is an essential part of science.

•Scientists report their results in journals, on the internet, or at conferences.

Communicate Results •This allows their experiments to

be evaluated and repeated.

•Scientists can build on previous work of other scientists and maybe propose a theory.

•Do you know a science theory?

•Sometimes results are unexpected:

This is ok!

REPEAT THE EXPERIMENT

Communicate Results

I Hear and I ForgetI See and I RememberI Do and I Understand

- Chinese Proverb

Web Sites Used:http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/nceas.web/kids/scimethod.html

http://www.brainpop.com/science/scientificinquiry/scientificmethod/preview.weml

http://www.quia.com/jg/65726.html