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Scientific Method

Scientific Method. What is it? How does it work? Mrs. Miller. What is the scientific method?. A process used to find answers to questions about the world around us . There are several versions of the scientific method, some have more steps than others.

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Scientific Method

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  1. Scientific Method What is it? How does it work? Mrs. Miller

  2. What is the scientific method? • A process used to find answers to questions about the world around us. • There are several versions of the scientific method, some have more steps than others. • All versions begin with a question to be answered, and provide an organized method for conducting and analyzing an experiment.

  3. What steps do I follow? • Question • Hypothesis • Experiment • Analyze Data • Conclusion • Communicate Results

  4. Question • Based on observations you have made that addresses a problem you want to investigate. • What do you want to know or explain? • Must be testable. Examples: Does salt effect the rate in which water boils? Does the type of soda effect the reaction of Mento’s candy? • Does your question make sense? Is it confusing?

  5. Hypothesis Prediction • What do you think will happen? • Possible answer to your question. • Guess the outcome of the experiment. • Educated guess based on observations and your prior knowledge of the topic. • Rewrite your prediction using an If…Then…format. (If…comes from the question, Then…comes from your prediction) • Examples: Ifsalt effects the rate in which water boils, then the water with salt will boil faster than water without salt. Ifcaffine effects the reaction of soda and mentos, thencaffine-free soda will have a smaller explosion. Hypothesis

  6. Experiment Materials & Procedures • List ALL materials needed to test hypothesis. • What steps will you follow to find the answer? Do not use personal pronouns such as I, me, we, etc. • BE SPECIFIC! Label steps using 1, 2, 3, etc. • Would someone else be able to follow your directions? • How will you collect your data? How will you measure results? • Address any safety issues or concerns. • Gather materials • Follow steps in your procedures • Record observations • Collect Data Perform Experiment

  7. Analyze Data • How can you study the data you collected? • Is your data quantitative or qualitative? • Make a graph. • Is the data reliable? Be careful not to make inferences about the data.

  8. Conclusion • Did your results support your hypothesis? • My hypothesis was correct/incorrect because…(use data to support explanation) • Explain any unexpected results.

  9. Communicate Results • Write a summary of what you learned during your experiment and address your results. • Be sure to write in complete sentences. • This can usually be done in 3 paragraphs: • Attention grabber, why you chose the topic, state hypothesis • Summarize the procedures and explain the data collected • Conclusion. What did you learn? Does this lead you to another question?

  10. Variables • Any factor, trait, or condition that can affect the outcome of an experiment • Experiments usually have 3 types: independent, dependent, and controlled

  11. Controlled Variables Meaning • Things to remain constant • What I keep the same • Same size soda bottle • Same amount of Mento’s candy • Same temperature Examples • Same amount of water • Same starting temperature • Same heating surface

  12. Independent Variable Meaning • Something changed by the scientist • What I change • Manipulated variable • Change the type of soda • Caffine-free vs. caffine Examples • Add salt

  13. Dependent Variable Meaning • Response to change • What I observe or measure • Responding variable • Height of the reaction explosion Examples • How fast the water boils

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