Scientific Skills

I. The Scientific Method There are 7 steps in the Scientific Method.

b. Steps to the scientific Method Ask a Question Do Background Research Construct Hypothesis Test with an experiment Analyze Results and Draw Conclusion Hypothesis true Hypothesis False Report Results

I. The Scientific Method c. Terms i. Hypothesis: An educated guess ii. Control Group: The group that does not change iii. Experimental Group: The group that does change iv. Independent Variable: The item the scientist is changing (what changes in each experiment v. Dependent Variable: The item being measured vi. Data: The information gathered

I. The Scientific Method d. Example Problem i. A study was done to find if different tire treads affect the braking distance of a car. 1. What is the Independent Variable? 2. What is the Dependent Variable? 3. Write the hypothesis for this experiment.

I. The Scientific Method ii. Students measured the temperature of the water at different depths in Lake Skywalker and found that the temperature varied. 1. What is the independent variable? 2. What is the dependent variable? 3. Write the hypothesis for this experiment.

I. The Scientific Method iii. Do this third example problem with your seat partner. 1. Write your hypothesis for this experiment 2. What is the control group 3. what is the experimental group 4. what is the independent variable 5. what is the dependent variable

II. Measurements in Science Metric System i. This system is based on the number 10 ii. Metric system units and ways to remember b. Converting within the metric system. i. when moving from larger to smaller units, move decimal to the right ii. When moving from smaller to larger units, move decimal to the left

II. Measurements in Science iii. Examples 1. My cats tail is 33 cm long, how long is it in millimeters? 2. It is 1,142 km from Sarasota to New Orleans. How far is it in decimeters? 3. Carol picked up a rock that weighed 16 dkg. What does it weigh in centigrams?

II. Measurements in Science c. Measurements we use in science i. Mass: amount of matter in an object 1. Basic unit of mass: grams 2. Mass will never change for an object ii. Weight: force of gravity pushing down on an object 1. Weight will change depending on gravity iii. Length: distance from one point to another 1. Basic unit of length: meters

II. Measurements in Science iv. Density: amount of matter in a given volume 1. Basic unit: grams per centimeters cubed (g/cm3 ) 2. Density of water is 1 g/cm3 a. Anything less will float b. Anything more will sink v. Volume: amount of space an object takes up 1. Basic unit: Liters for liquids and cm3 for solids

II. Measurements in Science 2. How to find Volume of rectangular solid. a. Equation: length x width x height 3. How to find volume of an irregular solid a. Measure from the meniscus, which is the bend in the water

III. Graphing Bar Graphs: used for one set of data i. Things to remember about bar graphs 1. Always label your axis 2. Always give your graph a title 3. They must be in black and white 4. Be sure there are spaces between each bar 5. Number axis should go at least two above

III. Graphing d. Line graphs: used to show change over time i. Things to remember about line graphs 1. Time is ALWAYS on x-axis 2. Must be black and white 3. Label all axis’ 4. give title