Scientific

Method
 What is Science?
- The goal of science is to investigate and understand
how the physical world works, with observable
physical evidence as the basis of that understanding.
- Scientist collect and organize information in a
careful, orderly way, looking for patterns and
connections between events.
What is Science?
- Scientists propose explanations that can be tested
by examining evidence
- Science is an organized way of using evidence to
learn about the natural world.
How is Science done?
- Science begins with a simple observation
- This is the process of gathering information about
events or processes in a careful, orderly way.
- Data is the information gathered from making
observations.
- This work MUST be conducted in a controlled
experiment.
 Scientific Method:
- A series of steps used by scientists to solve a
problem or answer a question
- The Steps to the Scientific Method:
- Observation / Asking a Question - Perform the Experiment

- Research/State the Problem - Record and Analyze Data

- Form a Hypothesis - Draw Conclusions

 Observation/Asking a Question:
- A problem or a question must first be identified
- You see something happening and wonder how it
works or why it is occurring
- You want to discover how something works
Research/State the Problem:
- Research the problem/topic and understand as much
as possible
- Understand what the problem is so you can get
the experiment started
 Form a Hypothesis:
- Hypothesis:
- A possible explanation to the question or problem
- Proposed answer to the question you formulated
- It is simply a prediction and has not yet been proven
or disproven
- You must be able to test your hypothesis
 Form a Hypothesis:
- Practice:
- Mckenna had 10 identical iron nails. She painted 5
nails & left the other unpainted. She put all the nails in
a plastic tray & placed the tray outside. After 3 days,
all the unpainted nails showed signs of rusting. On day
30, rust began to show through the paint on two of
the painted nails. Five days later, all of the painted
nails showed signs of rusting.
 Form a Hypothesis:
- Practice:
- Hector had four identical cans. He painted 2 cans black &
2 cans white. He filled each can with 200 mL of water. He then
recorded the temperature of the water in each can before
putting the cans in a sunny place. The water temperature in
each can was measured & recorded every 20 minutes for 2
hours. For each measurement, the temperature of the water in
the black cans was always a few degrees higher than the
temperature of the water in the white cans.
Perform the experiment:
- Trying to prove or disprove your hypothesis
- Perform the experiment under control conditions
- In a “controlled experiment” only one variable is
changed at a time
- A variable is a factor tested in an experiment
Perform the experiment:
- There are two variables in an experiment
- Independent Variable
- Dependent Variable
 Perform the experiment:
- Independent Variable
- The variable that is deliberately changed by the
scientist.
- There is only ONE independent variable for each
experiment
(ASK yourself what did I change?)
Perform the experiment:
- Dependent Variable
- Also known as the Responding variable
- The dependent variable is observed during the
experiment (ASK yourself what do I observe)
- The data you collect during an experiment
What you see happening & What you record
data about
 Perform the experiment:
- Identifying the Independent Variable:
- Juanita planted seeds with an oblong shape in three
containers. She placed 10 seeds with the pointed end facing
down in one container. In the second container, she placed 10
seeds with the pointed end facing up. She put 10 seeds pointing
sideways in a third container. All the seeds were covered with
soil. Each container was given equal amounts of water and light
each day.
Placement of the seeds
 Perform the experiment:
- Identifying the Independent Variable:
- Shari set up plastic bowling pins 0.5 m from the end of a
ramp. She rolled a ball down the ramp and into the pins. She
then counted how many of the pins the rolling ball moved. She
repeated this three more times using balls of different masses.
Shari observed that the ball with the greatest mass moved the
most pins.

Masses of the bowling ball

Perform the experiment:
- During an experiment, there are TWO groups
- Control Group
- Experimental Group
Perform the experiment:
- Control Group
- The standard used to compare with the outcome
of a test
- The control group serves as the comparison
- It is the same as the experiment group, except
that the one variable that is being tested is
removed
Perform the experiment:
- Experimental Group
- Shows the effect of the variable that is being
tested
- This group is used to test for the hypothesis
Perform the experiment:
- Identify the Experimental & Control Group
- You want to know if feeding rabbits corn is better
for their growth than the normal feed pellets that
they eat. You have 20 rabbits on which to perform
your experiment.
Control Group: Normal Pellets
Experimental Group: Corn
Perform the experiment:
- Identify the Experimental & Control Group
- You want to test the effect that amount of light
has on growing bean plants. You have 20 plants
and the ability to adjust the amount of light.
Control Group: Normal amount of light
Experimental Group: Adjusted amount
of light
Record and Analyze Data:
- Observations and measurements made during an
experiment
- The evidence from the experiment is used to
determine if the hypothesis is proven or disproven
- Does the data support your hypothesis or
prediction?
 Record and Analyze Data:
- There are two types of data:
- Quantitative data numbers and are obtained by
counting or measuring.
- Qualitative data are descriptions and involve
characteristics that cannot be counted
- Example: Hair Color (Brown, Blonde, Red, etc)
Conclusion:
- Summary that explains whether the data support the
hypothesis
- Base your conclusion on your results (data)
- Using your data and observations, decide if your
original hypothesis was right or wrong
- This is where you Accept or reject original
hypothesis
 Practice:
- In order to test the effectiveness of a new vaccine, 50
volunteers are selected and divided into two groups. One
group will be the control group and the other will be the
experimental group. Both groups are given a pill to take that is
identical in size, shape, color and texture.

Control Group: Receives placebo pill

Experimental Group: Receives vaccine pill
 Practice:
- Shortly after Ms. Berndt’s cat, Revere, was born, Ms. Berndt realized
Revere wasn’t eating enough. She went to the pet store and bought many
different kinds of food and fed Revere different types every day. Each day
she noted the type of food and how much Revere ate out of his dish.
Eventually Revere ate a lot of the CreppyCat brand food and Ms. Berndt
bought that for him from then on.

Independent variable: Types of Cat Food

Dependent variable: How much Revere ate
 Practice:
- Suzie wants to know the effect of different colors of light on the growth of
plants. She believes that plants can survive best in white light. She buys 5
ferns of the same species, which are all approximately the same age and
height. She places one in white light, one in blue light, one in green light, one
in red light and one in the closet. All of the ferns are planted in
Miracle-Grow and given 20 mL of water once a day for 2 weeks. After the
two weeks, Suzie observes the plants and makes measurements
Control Group: White light
Experimental Group: Plants placed in different
light
 Practice:
- Suzie wants to know the effect of different colors of light on the growth of
plants. She believes that plants can survive best in white light. She buys 5
ferns of the same species, which are all approximately the same age and
height. She places one in white light, one in blue light, one in green light, one
in red light and one in the closet. All of the ferns are planted in
Miracle-Grow and given 20 mL of water once a day for 2 weeks. After the
two weeks, Suzie observes the plants and makes measurements
Independent variable: Color of light
Dependent variable: How much the plants grew
Theory:
- Theory:
A broad and comprehensive statement of what is
thought to be true
- A theory may be formed after the hypothesis has
been tested many times and is supported by much
evidence
- A theory is supported by considerable evidence