THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD DEE DEE, WE ARE USING CORNELL NOTES FOR THIS BY TORRIE EPPERSON TLA SECONDARY SESSION 4 MODIFIED BY ME CUZ IT WAS DULL

CORNELL NOTES

TABLE OF CONTENTS A METHOD TO THE MADNESS PAY ATTENTION DO YOUR RESEARCH MAKE A GUESS THE FUN PART ANALYZE AND ORGANIZE TYPES OF GRAPHS RIGHT OR WRONG? NO REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT SUMMING IT UP

A METHOD TO THE MADNESS WHAT IS THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD? THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IS A SET OF STEPS THAT OCCUR IN A LOGICAL ORDER TO HELP YOU SOLVE PROBLEMS IN A LABORATORY SETTING. WHY USE THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD? WELL, FOR STARTERS, YOURE THINKING LIKE A SCIENTIST. PART OF THAT MEANS KEEPING YOUR WORK ORGANIZED AND FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS TO MINIMIZE ERRORS IN YOUR RESULTS. PLUS, THERE’S VERY LITTLE YOU CAN DO CORRECTLY IF YOU DON’T DO IT IN THE RIGHT ORDER.

STEP ONE PAY ATTENTION THE FIRST STEP IN ANY SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENT IS TO MAKE AN OBSERVATION. THAT MEANS PAYING ATTENTION TO WHAT’S GOING ON AROUND YOU. DOES YOUR HAIR GET FRIZZY WHEN IT RAINS OUTSIDE? PERHAPS YOU SHOULD FIND OUT WHY. DOES ORVILLE REDENBACHER POPCORN POP FAST THAN ACT II? I BET THERE’S A REASON FOR THAT. YOUR JOB IN THE FIRST STEP IS TO SIMPLAY ASK A QUESTION.

A FEW POINTERS FOR YOU AN IMPORTANT THING TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN FORMING YOUR QUESTION IS TO MAKE SURE YOU ASK SOMETHING THAT CAN BE ANSWERED. FOR EXAMPLE, INSTEAD OF ASKING “WHY” SOMETHING HAPPENS, ASK “HOW” DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES AFFECT YOUR OBSERVATION. SO, DON’T ASK WHY YOUR HAIR GETS FRIZZY WHEN IT’S RAINING, BUT ASK HOW VARYING LEVELS OF HUMIDITY AFFECT THE FRIZZINESS OF YOUR HAIR.

STEP 2: DO YOUR RESEARCH Table of Contents BEFORE YOU CAN START THE FUN PART OF AN EXPERIMENT (YOU KNOW, BLOWING STUFF UP, MAKING A MESS) YOU HAVE TO DO YOUR HOMEWORK. IT’S IMPOSSIBE FOR YOU TO MOVE ON IN THE PROCESS WITHOUT FINDING OUT SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION FIRST. THERE ARE MILLIONS OF RESOURCES AVAILABLE FOR YOUR USE – DON’T JUST RELY ON THE INTERNET, AND MAKE SURE YOU DOUBLE CHECK YOUR FACTS. Table of Contents

STEP 3 MAKE A GUESS WELL NOT A GUESS EXACTLY, BUT A HYPOTHESIS. A HYPOTHESIS IS ALSO CALLED AN EDUCATED GUESS THIS IS WHERE STEP 2 COMES IN – YOU CANT MAKE AN EDUCATED GUESS WITHOUT A LITTLE EDUCATION GO EAGLES FIGHT WIN

A GOOD HYPOTHESIS A GOOD HYPOTHESIS IDENTIFIES BOTH THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE AND THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE IN AN EXPERIMENT. YOU CAN DO THIS BY WRITING AN “IF-THEN” STATEMENT. FOR EXAMPLE, IF THE HUMIDITY INCREASES, THEN MY HAIR WILL FRIZZ MORE. IN THIS EXAMPLE, THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE (THE LEVEL OF HUMIDITY) IS DESIGNATED BY THE IF STATEMENT AND THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE (AMOUNT OF HAIR FRIZZ) IS SIGNIFIED BY THE THEN STATEMENT.

STEP 4 THE FUN PART THIS IS WHERE THE REAL GOOD STUFF HAPPENS: THE EXPERIMENT. NOW, BEFORE YOU START DROOLING, THERE ARE SOME KEY THINGS YOU MUST DO TO KEEP THIS OFFICIAL. FIRST OF ALL, YOU MUST DESIGN A CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT. THIS MEANS THAT YOU MAY ONLY TEST ONE VARIABLE AT A TIME. IF WE’RE LOOKING AT HUMIDITY AND HAIR FRIZZ, YOU CAN’T ALSO TEST THE TYPE OF SHAMPOOP AND THE LENGTH OF HAIR AT THE SAME TIME.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN A VARIABLES DEP/IND VARIABLES The second important thing is to make sure that you list all required materials - every little thing! If you leave something out, it could mess up your experiment later. Next, write clear, specific, step-by-step procedures. This means that a person with no previous lab experience should be able to read your directions, follow them with no problems, and come up with the same results you did. Table of Contents

WALMART STYLE VARIABLE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES ARE DEFINED BY YOU OR THE EXPERIMENT AND ARE USUALLY ALWAYS IN A NICE SEQUENCE EXAMPLES: 1,2,3,4,5, 10,20,30,40 THEY ARE PLOTTED ON THE X- AXIS DEPENDENT VARIABLES ARE THE DATA YOU RECORD THEY ARE PLOTTED ON THE Y –AXIS WHEN YOU CHANGE THE INDEPENDENT THE DEPENDENT ALSO CHANGES

NUMBERS IN A NICE , NEAT ORDER DATA THAT YOU WRITE DOWN NUMBERS IN A NICE , NEAT ORDER

STEP 5 ANALYZE AND ORGANIZE THIS IS A KEY STEP BECAUSE IT ENSURES THAT YOU HAVENT LEFT ANYTHING OUT OR LOST IMPORTANT DATA. AT THIS POINT, YOUR TASK IS TO GATHER ALL THE CALCULATIONS, MEASUREMENTS, OBSERVATIONS, ETC. AND ORGANIZE THEM SO THAT THEY ACCURATELY DISPLAY WHAT YOU’VE FOUND. THIS IS USUALLY DONE WITH THE USE OF GRAPHS, TABLES, CHARTS, AND DIAGRAMS.

CONTROL VARIABLES THINGS THAT MUST ALWAYS STAY THE SAME REAL SIMPLE THINGS THAT ARE OFTEN OVERLOOKED EXAMPLES COULD BE THINGS LIKE: TEMPERATURE WATER AIR PRESSURE NIW THGIF SELGAE OG

TYPES OF GRAPHS THERE ARE THREE TYPES OF GRAPHS WE WILL FOCUS ON. THE FIRST IS THE BAR GRAPH, WHICH IS MOST USEFUL WHEN YOURE SHOWING SEVERAL GROUPS OF INDIVIUAL DATA. FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOURE TESTING HUMIDITY AND HAIR FRIZZ FOR BOTH MALES AND FEMALES, YOU CAN USE A BAR GRAPH TO COMPARE GUY V. GIRL

PIE CHARTS YUMMMM THE SECOND TYPE OF GRAPH WE’LL USE IS THE PIE CHART. THIS IS BEST USED WHEN YOU’RE SHOWING PERCENTAGES, OR PARTS OF A WHOLE. FOR EXAMPLE, TO BREAK DOWN THE COMPOSITION OF AIR BY EACH INDIVIDUAL ELEMENT, A PIE CHART IS PERFECT. THE LAST TYPE OF GRAPH, AND PROBABLY THE ONE WE’LL USE MORE FREQUENTLY, IS THE LINE GRAPH. THIS US USED ANY TIME YOU WANT TO SHOW CONTINUOUS CHANGE, LIKE GROWTH OR INCREASING TEMPERATURES.

GRAPHING PRINCIPLES THERE ARE 5 KEY ELEMENTS THAT ANY COMPLETE GRAPH MUST HAVE. 1.) TITLE- THIS SHOULD BE A DESCRIPTIVE GROUP OF WORDS THAT INCLUDES BOTH VARIABLES IN THE EXPERIMENT. 2.) AXIS LABELS- THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES SHOULD BE PLACES ON THE X AXIS AND THE DEPENDENT ON THE Y AXIS. 3.) UNIT LABELS- IF YOUR AXIS LABEL IS TEMPERATURE, MAKE SURE YOU IDENTIFY WHAT SCALE YOU’RE USING (C OR F). IF YOUR LABEL IS HEIGHT TELL WHAT ITS MEASURED IN (CM, MM, IN, ETC ).

DRUGGZ ARE BAD MMMMKAY 4.) CORRECT GRAPH- MAKE SURE YOU’VE USED PROPER INCREMENTS ALONG YOUR AXES, THAT YOU’VE STARTED IN THE RIGHT PLACE, THAT YOUR AXES ARE NOT FLIP –FLOPPED, AND THAT YOU USE THE RIGHT TYPE OF GRAPH. 5.) KEY- SOMEWHERE ON YOUR GRAPH, EITHER WITHIN IN OR TO THE SIDE OF IT, YOU SHOULD IDENTIFY THE DIFFERENT LINES OR BARS IN YOUR GRAPH.

THE POINT OF STEP 6, WHICH IS TO DRAW CONCLUSIONS BASED ON YOUR FINDINGS, IS NOT TO DETERMINE WHETHER YOUR HYPOTHESIS WAS RIGHT OR WRONG. HERE YOU CAN SAY YOUR HYPOTHESIS WAS SUPPORTED OR REJECTED, BUT UNLESS YOU HAVE DONE YOUR EXPERIMENT 1000 TIMES AND COME UP WITH THE EXACT SAME RESULTS, EACH TIME, THERE’S NO WAY TO DETERMINE THAT YOU’RE RIGHT. ALSO AT THIS STEP YOU CAN POINT OUT ANY POSSIBLE SOURCES OF ERROR OR INCONSISTENCY IN YOUR EXPERIMENT AND MAKE SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT IN THE FUTURE. STEP 6: RIGHT OR WRONG? NO!

STEP 7: REPEAT REPEAT REPEAT AS STATED IN THE PREVIOU SLIDE, YOU CANNOT CALL YOUR RESULTS VALID UNLESS YOU’VE SEEN THEM OVER AND OVER. ON THAT NOTE, IT’S IMPORTANT THAT, IN ORDER TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY, ESPECIALLY IN THE PROFESSIONAL SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY, YOU REPEAT YOUR EXPERIMENT NUMEROUS TIMES AND REACH THE SAME CONCLUSION EACH TIME.

SUMMING IT UP