Steps of the Scientific Method

1. Make an Observation. Use the five senses  Sight  Smell  Touch  Taste  Hear

2. Form a Question from the observation.  What do you see?  What do you smell?  What do you hear?  What do you taste?

3. Form a Hypothesis Make a “Best Guess” about the observation.  State what you think is happening or causing the situation

4. Conduct an Experiment  Create and Design an experiment to test your hypothesis  Carry out your experiment

5. Analyze the Results  Organize, chart and/or graph results  What do the experiment data tell you?

6. Make A Conclusion  From your results, decide what you think is happening.  What is the answer to your question?

7. Share Results  Tell others what happened  Write report and data table/graphs

Vocabulary  Analysis – study something closely  Compare – tell how items are alike  Contrast – tell how items are different  Conclusion – Summarize what happened

 Trial – each time an experiment is performed  Data – piece of information  Data Table – a chart used to organize the data collected from an experiment Vocabulary

 Dependent Variable – the part of the experiment that changes because of something else.  Appears on the Y axis of a graph  Independent Variable – the part of the experiment that changes each time you test your hypothesis  Appears on the X axis of a graph

Qualitative Analysis – Describes using characters of an object.  Cold, big, red, soft, happy Quantitative Analysis – information based on numerical data  Only numbers Reliable – consistent, truthful and trustworthy Vocabulary

Scientific Theory Theory – An explanation of something. Describes what happens.  An accepted hypothesis

Scientific Law Law - A law tells what happens but not why At the time it is made, no exceptions have been found to a law.

Scientific Law  Example of a Law:  Consider Newton's Law of Gravity.  Newton could use this law to predict the behavior of a dropped object, but he couldn't explain why it happened.

Measurement Length – measures distance  Ruler, meter stick, tape measure  Meter is the base unit Volume – measures space occupied  Ruler, graduated cylinder  Liter is the base unit

Mass – measures quantity of particles in an object  Triple beam balance  Gram is the base unit Temperature – measures movement of particles  Thermometer  Degrees Celsius Measurement

Design Your Own Experiment 1. Make an observation 2. Write a question 3. Form a hypothesis 4. Design an experiment 5. Analyze results  Data Table  Graph 6. Make a conclusion 7. Share results