Chapter 1—The Nature of Science The Scientific Method and Experimental Design

The Scientific Method The Scientific Method is an organized process that people use to solve problems. There are 6 steps to the Scientific Method:

Define the Problem Gather Information Make a Hypothesis Test the Hypothesis with Experimentation Analyze the Results Draw Conclusions

Example—Will a heavy pendulum swing faster than a light pendulum? The problem is already stated. What do you think? What is your experience with swinging things? Make an educated guess at a possible answer or solution to the problem.

Example continued Design an experiment that would allow you to test your hypothesis. Identify the dependent variable in your experiment. Identify the independent variable in your experiment. Identify as many constants as you can think of in your experiment.

Example continued Analyze your results—would a graph help? Do the results make sense? Was the experiment a valid one? Draw conclusions—was your hypothesis confirmed or refuted? Did the experiment reveal some new problem that needs to be studied?