How Science Works

1. How Science Works

2. Observing the World: If you are a thinker, you question things that you observe. You try to find an answer. There are many ways to find these answers. If you are a scientific thinker you find your answer using the scientific method. Examples: Why is the sky blue? How did life come to be? How do plants grow taller? How do we grow taller?

3. Why is the Sky Blue?

4. Good Scientists... • are skeptics: They question existing ideas and new hypotheses. • are open-minded: They are always willing to consider new ideas when evidence demands it • repeat experiment • keep up with new knowledge gained through research *Many questions you have now or will have in the future involve science. You must understand science to make intelligent decisions about such issues.

5. How is Science Done? Scientists use the scientific method or process. When scientists have a question about something in the world they use this method to find an answer: • State the Problem or Question • Research • State a hypothesis • Design an experiment with a control group, constants and variables • Analyze data/ results • Conclusion or Summary

6. Important Skills used When Doing Science: Observing- process of gathering information using your senses in a careful, orderly way Inferencing- making a logical interpretation based on prior knowledge or experience

7. Observing and Inferencing For each picture write 3 observations. Then write one inference.

14. A Controlled Experiment • Control Group: Part of your experiment that is not varied in anyway. You can compare your test groups to this set standard group. • Independent variable- The change/difference you make in the experiment (the thing you are testing). Also called manipulated variable • Dependent variable- The differences that result from the experiment, the resulting effect. Also called responding variable. • Constants- Things in the experiment that do not change, kept exactly the same for each test group so they do not affect the results.

15. Scientific Research has Debunked many common beliefs throughout time. Some examples: • Spontaneous Generation • The 4 Humors • Geocentrism

16. What are some recent Scientific Discoveries? • Skin cells into stem cells (2008) • The Hadron Collider and the discovery of the “god particle” (2012) Your Challenge: Find one new scientific discovery, preferably in your “field”, in the last 8 years.

17. Let’s do a Controlled Experiment!