Unit 1: Introduction and Science Skills

OVERVIEW:•Safety•Scientific Method vs Engineering Design•Measuring and Data Collection•Graphing•Metric Conversions

Safety Scenarios! What would you Do?

For the lab situation you received, create a poster which includes the following. Use the safety rules to help you.

1.Explain how situation could have been prevented.

2.What should be done to fix the situation (problem).

SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Wed 8/19

What is the difference? Scientific Method

– Organized process of asking and answering scientific questions. Usually involves making observations and doing experiments.

Engineering Design– Organized process of solving a problem.

Usually involves designing and testing a product which meets certain standards.

Scientific Method vs Engineering Design

1. Question

2. Research

3. Hypothesis

4. Experiment

5. Collect/analyze data

6. Conclusion

7. Share results

1. Problem

2. Research/brainstorm

3. Design

4. Build

5. Test devise

6. Evaluate

7. Share results

What is the same?

Scientific Method FOLDABLE

1. Question

2. Research

3. Hypothesis

4. Experiment

5. Collect/analyze data

6. Conclusion

QUESTION

Ask a question about something you OBSERVED. Why? OR How? – Science requires being curious

Question must be testable – Can outcome be measured or observed?– Not based on opinion – Not just defining something

PRACTICE:Which question below can be answered SCIENTIFICALLY?

1. Which flowers are prettier, daisies or roses?

2. Can you get warts from handling toads?

3. Do cats make better pets than dogs?

4. How do plants grow?

5. How does changing the type of soil effect the growth of tomatoes?

RESEARCH

Use credible sources to learn more about the subject.

Then use what you learn to write your hypothesis and plan the experiment.

HYPOTHESIS Educated and Testable prediction

about what will happen.– Use what you learned from your research to write a

logic hypothesis.– Make sure you have access to the supplies to test

your hypothesis.– Make sure you can measure or observe the

outcome.

Cause and effect relationship between two factors– INDEPENDNT and DEPENDENT VARIABLE (DV)– If __IV__ [I do this], then ___DV__ [this will happen]

HYPOTHESIS-VARIABLES Prior to writing your hypothesis, make sure you identify the variables first! Independent Variable (IV) is the factor tested – what you CHOOSE to changeDependent Variable (DV) is the factor that responds to change – what you MEASUREConstants (controlled variables) is keeping all other factors the same – DO NOT CHANGE

They hypothesis clearly states what you are changing (IV) and the outcome you predict will result (DV).

PRACTICE: HypothesisWhich prediction below is written correctly and testable?1. If I give my plants fertilizer, then they

will grow as big as my neighbor’s plants.

2. If I get lucky, then my plants will grow bigger.

3. My plants aren’t growing bigger because I don’t water them enough.

PRACTICE: Identify independent, dependent, and controlled variablesHypothesis: If green light is used, then plants will grow faster.

-kind of plants

-amount of water

-amount of light

-type of light

-growth of plant

-type of soil

Puzzle Example

Students of different ages were given the same jigsaw puzzle to put together. They were timed to see how long it took to finish the puzzle

Electromagnetic Example

An investigation was done with an electromagnetic system made from a battery and wire wrapped around a nail. Different sizes of nails were used. The number of paper clips the electromagnet could pick up was measured.

Egg Example

The higher the temperature of water, the faster an egg will boil.

Depth Example

The temperature of water was measured at different depths of a pond.

CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT

EXPERIMENTAL GROUP– This is the group that is being tested.– Only 1 factor is tested at a time– Independent variable is tested/changed

CONTROL GROUP– This is the group that is NOT tested.– Independent variable is NOT changed– This group is compared to experimental

group

What is the effect of light on plant growth?

EXPERIMENTAL GROUPPlants that receive light.

CONTROL GROUPPlants that receive NO light.

Compare groups to answer question

Data AnalysisTitle: Describing the DataINDEPENDENT

VARIABLETrial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average

1.

2.

3.

4.

Conduct repeated trials increases the reliability of the data

Organize data in a data table. Calculate the Average and Graph the

averages to look for trends and relationships

CONCLUSION

Summarize your experiment AND explain if the data supports the hypothesis or not.

GRAPHING

Graphs Make Data Easier to Understand.

Cows 124

Chickens 450

Turkeys 388

Horses 56

Mules 110

Below is data without a graph.

Animals on the farmChickens

rule!

Data WITH A Graph.

Cows 124

Chickens

450

Turkeys 388

Horses 56

Mules 110

Animals on the farm

0

100

200

300

400

500

CowsChickensTurkeysHorsesMules

Graphing Data 1. Must have a titleRelated to data

2. Label the axis:X – independent

Y – dependent

Include units

3. Create a scaleCannot change

Spreads out data

Title: ___________

Y Axis = Dependent Variable

X Axis = Independent Variable

Graphs

Bar graphsBar graphs– Good for comparing

different sets of data.– Help us see

differences in data Line GraphsLine Graphs

– Good for showing change over time.

Examples:To show how many people like pepperoni pizza vs supreme pizza.To show how population grows over time.To compare how many people live in different cities.

Bar Graph Comparing a student’s

Grades

0102030405060708090

100

Math Reading Sci SS L. Arts

X axis

Y axis

Let’s Test Your Skills.

Class 3rd grade

4th grade 5th grade 6th grade

Number of minutes 25 30 35 45

At Elm Street School students have computer class once a week. The chart shows the number of minutes each class spends in the computer lab.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

3rd 4th 5th 6th

Elm

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

3rd 4th 5th 6th

Elm

Which is the most appropriate graph of the information shown in the chart?

Graph A Graph B

Metric Measurements

Mass vs Weight

Amount of matter in an object

Does NOT change with location (moon – Earth)

The SI unit for mas is Kg– SI (International

System of Units)

Measure of the force of gravity acting on an object

Changes with location (moon – Earth)

If gravity is greater, weight increases!

Volume, Mass, & Density MASS is the amount of matter… VOLUME is how much space matter takes

up. SI unit is L, mL, or cm3. Density can be describe as the amount of

matter in a given space – More dense = sink– Less dense = float

FORMULA FOR DENSITY:

Density = Mass / Volume