ALL ABOUT THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD MISS CASE’S 4 TH GRADE CLASS

Ask a Question Do Background Research Construct a Hypothesis Test Your Hypothesis Analyze Your Data Draw a Conclusion Report Your Results Steps of the Scientific Method

ASK A QUESTION Ask yourself: −How, What, When, Who, Which, Why, or Where? The answer to your question must be something that you can measure, preferably with a number, for the scientific method to work.

DO BACKGROUND RESEARCH Use your local library or the internet to research your topic or experiment. Allows you to find awesome new ways to conduct your experiment. Prevents you from making common mistakes during your experiment.

What is a hypothesis? A hypothesis is an educated guess about what you think will happen during your experiment. A hypothesis helps you answer the question you asked in the “ask a question” step. −It is usually worded in the format of: “If I do this, then this will happen.” o For example: “If I raise the temperature of the burner, then the water will come to a boil.” CONSTRUCT A HYPOTHESIS

TEST YOUR HYPOTHESIS The experiment you perform will test whether or not your hypothesis is true. Your experiment needs to be a fair test which means: You should change only one factor at a time while keeping all other conditions the same. You should repeat the experiment several times so that you know you didn’t make any mistakes. 4 th graders performing an experiment in class

ANALYZE YOUR DATA After you complete the experiment, you must collect your measurements and analyze your data to find out if your hypothesis is true or false. When looking at your data, ask yourself these questions: −Is it complete, or did you forget something? −Do you need to collect more data? −Did you make any mistakes? You can even make a chart or graph to clearly show your data to others. You can use a pie chart, bar graph, and many more!

EXAMPLE OF CHARTS AND GRAPHS Bar Graph - Vertical Bar Graph - Horizontal Pie Graph

DRAW A CONCLUSION A conclusion summarizes how your results help or hurt your hypothesis. Ask yourself, did your data make the hypothesis true or false? Work in a small group to draw conclusions and get ideas.

REPORT YOUR RESULTS Ways to report your final results: −Final Report −Creative Display o Display Board o PowerPoint project o Digital Story

DISPLAY BOARD EXAMPLES

SOURCES Science Buddies Steps of the Scientific Method projects/project_scientific_method.shtml