The Scientific Method

1. Determine a scientific problem to solve or make an observation. This is a question you must have in your mind as to how or why something works or how something happens. A good example of stating a problems is: “How does acid rain affect forest?”

2. Develop a Hypothesis This component in merely good-quality speculation, a guess about how or why something happens. Generally, based on your hypothesis, you can predict the outcome for a particular experiment you perform. An example: Increasing the amount of acid rainfall in a rain forest will decrease the amount of growth in the forest.

3. Testing your Hypothesis Experiments need to be performed to test your hypothesis. In some cases, finding out your hypothesis is incorrect is just as good as finding out that it is correct! This step is important, as you must also check the results of your experiments against know facts.

A Controlled Experiment A controlled experiment is one in which only on variable is changed, everything else is held the same. Constant Variables – the things that are kept the same. Independent Variable – the thing you change Dependant Variable – the thing you measure Control Group – A part of the experiment in which all variables are held constant

Recording your Observations After conducting experiments, what did you find out?

Drawing a Conclusion This step presents your interpretation of the results of the experiments you performed. If your experiments match your original prediction, then they support your hypothesis. If not, you will need to explain why you think your prediction differed from your results. Were there problems while conducting the experiments? Perhaps you need a new hypothesis to explain what you see.