1-2 The Scientific Method-A Way of Problem Solving

The Scientific Method Everyday of the year there are many problems being investigated by scientists. Scientific method – Whenever scientists try to solve a problem, they search for an answer in an orderly and systematic way

The Basic steps in the scientific method Stating the problem Gathering information on the problem Forming a hypothesis Performing experiments to test the hypothesis Recording and analyzing data Stating a conclusion Repeating the work

Stating the Problem The first part of the Scientific method is to state the problem For example the book asks how do snakes find their prey after their prey have been bitten?

Gathering information on the problem The first step in solving a scientific problem is to find out or review everything important related to it. After you find out or review everything important you can form a hypothesis Back to the Scientific method

Forming a Hypothesis Hypothesis – A suggested solution A hypothesis is almost always formed after the information related to the problem has been carefully studied Forming a hypothesis is like good detective work, which involves not only logic, but hunches, intuition, and the taking of chances Back to the Scientific method

Performing Experiments to Test the Hypothesis The next step is to test hypothesis by performing certain activities and recording the results Whenever scientists test a hypothesis using an experiment, they must make sure that the results of the experiment clearly support or do not support the hypothesis Variable – the factor being tested at a time Control experiment – A control experiment is run exactly the same way as the experiment with the variable, but the variable is left out. Back to the Scientific method

Recording and analyzing Data Data – observations made during the experiment Data include observations such as measurements The scientists analyze the recorded data Back to the Scientific Method

Repeating the work Scientists might repeat the experiment many times before they make a conclusion Before the conclusion would be accepted by the scientific community, other scientists would repeat the experiment and check the results In most cases, it is only when an experiment has been repeated by scientists worldwide that it is considered to be accurate and worthy of being concluded in new scientific research Back to the Scientific method

The scientific method – not Always so orderly In the real world, Scientists do not always follow the steps in the scientific method as they have been described to you. The steps do not always follow the same order In some experiments it is not possible to eliminate all but one variable. Back to the beginning