Running head: THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD 1

The Scientific Method

Tiffany Nicole Cooper

University of Phoenix

Luciana Robinson

SCI/230

December 17, 2010

Running head: THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD 2

The Scientific Method

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To start out I would like to first explain what the “scientific method” is. Scientific

Method is the 'tool' that scientists use to find the answers to questions. The Scientific Method

allows scientists to solve difficult problems by taking a series of four smaller steps: observation,

questioning, hypothesis, and explanation.

1. Observation: an observation can be something totally new, or it can be on something

that is old, but with a new “outlook” on things. Often observations are a new way of looking at

things or realization that the world is at odds with a current idea that is accepted. According to

Pruitt, N. L., & Underwood, L. S. (2006) “In science, observations lead to questions.” The

observation that I am making as a personal example is: “have you ever wondered if your silver is

real or fake?” In order to make the experiment to this work, I will use two pieces of silver (I will

be using spoons.)

In my “web” experiment my observation is “Have you ever noticed if you place a plant

near a window, that after a while, the plant grows or leans toward the window?

2. Questioning: scientific questions can be answered by experimentation or observation

of the material universe. My real-life example question is “Is my silver spoon real or fake?”

My web question is “Have you ever wondered why the plant grows toward the window?”

Hypothesis: an idea about the solution to a problem, based on knowledge and research. My

hypothesis on my real-life situation is “When I do the experiment, will I find that my silver

cutlery is real.”

When trying to figure out my questions for my web experiment, I come up with “What

reasons or factors can you list that might cause a plant to lean or grow toward a window?” My
hypothesis is “plants respond to light which they need to make their food, and that is why they

lean towards the window.”

4. Experimentation (or testing): the process of testing a hypothesis by collecting data

under controlled, repeatable conditions. In order to do conclude if my silver is fake or not I

would first take a coffee mug, and place the spoons in the mug with a similar solid piece. Stick a

dried pea to the handle of each spoon with a dab of butter. Pour boiling water into the mug, and

if the peas fall of simultaneously, the item is real. If the pea falls off after the pea on the one that

was real falls off, then your suspected spoon is a fake.

In order to conduct an experiment to find out why plants lean towards the window, I

would make a controlled environment and make sure there is no other light available to the plant,

other then what I would provide. I could use a fish tank and a dark room, and put the plant in the

fish tank with only the lights that are in there to help the plant grow.

5. Explanation: Well according to Pruitt, N. L., & Underwood, L. S. (2006) “A scientific

explanation is nothing more than the best hypothesis—the one that has passed the widest and

most comprehensive series of tests—about a natural phenomenon. In other words, a scientific

explanation is a mature hypothesis.” In my personal experiment, since silver conducts heat

quicker than any other metal except gold, mercury, and platinum, it helped prove that my silver

cutlery was not a fake!

In my web experiment, the explanation is the window is where the nutrients of light is

provided to the plant, therefore, it tends to makes the plant lean towards the light in order to

receive the fullest amount of nutrients it possible can.

When you look at both of the experiments that were conducted (one being how to tell if
your silver is real or fake and the other being why do my plants grow towards the windows, you

can see the steps that I took to find out if my observations could be followed through the whole

scientific method, or if I would get half way through and find myself at a dead end. In both

experiments, I found that I could follow through with the scientific method because I could

follow through from observation to explanation. Without the scientific method being around, I

do not think that this world would have gotten as far in intelligence as we have. Without being

able to follow the sequence of the scientific method, we would have not been able to conclude if

my silver was real or fake, or that plants grow towards light because they need the nutrients that

the sun provides for it. With the experiment of the plants, I was able to determine that if I would

grow a plant in a controlled environment, I am able to see a difference or a change in the

direction the plant is growing.

References:

Pruitt, N. L., & Underwood, L. S. (2006). Bioinquiry: Making connections in biology (3rd ed.).

Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.