Introduction to Scientific Inquiry

What is Science? A way of: Learning about the natural world Exploring problems and answering questions about the natural world The goal is to understand the world around us

Thinking like a Scientist Observing – Using one or more of your senses to gather information (sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell) Qualitative- Use senses Quantitative- Numbers Inferring –Explaining or interpreting things you observe Doesn’t mean guessing wildly Based on reasoning from what you already know

Still Thinking Like a Scientist Predicting – Making a forecast of what will happen in the future based on past experience or evidence Scientific Attitudes – Includes curiosity, honesty, open-mindedness, skepticism, and creativity

Scientific Inquiry Refers to the ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence they gather

Steps of Scientific Inquiry Posing Questions- Often begins with a problem or question about an observation

Steps of Scientific Inquiry Developing a Hypothesis – A possible explanation for a set of observations or answer to a scientific questions Must be testable Investigations and evidence will either support or disprove

Steps of Scientific Inquiry Designing an Experiment Controlled experiment – a test of a hypothesis under conditions established by the scientist Variable - one of the factors that can change in an experiment Manipulated variable – The variable that the scientist changes (also called Independent Variable) Responding variable – The variable that changes because of the manipulated variable (also called Dependent Variable) Operational definition – Describes how to measure a particular variable or define a particular term

Steps of Scientific Inquiry Collecting and Interpreting Data Data – The facts, figures, and other evidence gathered through observations After data has been collected it needs to be interpreted Graphs can help with interpreting data by revealing patterns and/or trends

Steps of Scientific Inquiry Drawing Conclusions – A conclusion is a decision about how to interpret what you learned from an experiment Conclusions may: Support a hypothesis Show a hypothesis to be incorrect Need more data before conclusions can be reached *Not always the endpoint…results often lead to new questions, new hypotheses, and new experiments

Steps of Scientific Inquiry Communicating Results – The sharing of ideas and experimental findings with others through writing and speaking

Scientific Theories and Laws Scientific Theory – A well tested scientific concept that explains a wide range of observations Has withstood repeated tests Will be changed or abandoned if tests fail to support

Scientific Theories and Laws Scientific Law – A statement that describes what scientists expect to happen every time under a particular set of conditions Describes an observed pattern in nature but does not provide an explanation for it