Who uses it? What is it? Why should I care? Scientific Method Who uses it? What is it? Why should I care?

Everyone uses it everyday. Yes Even You!!!!!!!!!!

It is a way to solve problems. Do you have any problems to solve? Any big or any small ones?

Any of these sound familiar? Where are My Shoes? What should I have for lunch? What class do I have next? Did I do my homework for that class? What is the cure for cancer? Which deodorant works the longest?

There are seven steps to the Scientific Method. 1.Observations 2.Question 3. Research 4. Hypothesis 5. Experiment 6. Analysis 7. Conclusion

Observations Notice the world around you. Use your sense of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. What is interesting? What are you curious about?

Question *This is the question that you are trying to answer or problem that you are trying to solve. *Try to narrow it down and be very specific.

Research (Background) gather data about your question. - books magazines periodicals reports experts internet your past experiences

Hypothesis -an educated guess -a prediction based on data -what you think the answer is based upon your gathered information “If________, then _______ statement It is also good to add “because” and then explain the reason why you made the guess you did.

Experiment This is broken into 2 parts, materials and procedure. Materials is a list of equipment that you will need for the experiment. Procedure is a list of instructions that you need to follow for the experiment.

Analysis (Data) Collection of information and data from the experiment. It may be charts, graphs, or written work. This is WHAT HAPPENED!!!!!

Conclusion Restate your hypothesis Tell whether you proved your hypothesis or not. Tell about how you know and why you think what happened, happened. It is OK if it turns out that your hypothesis was not correct. You learned!!!!!!!!!

Report your findings One of the most important parts of the scientific method is to report to others your findings. You will help others learn. We do this by discussing the experiment with lab groups. Or presenting our findings in Science Fair.

Let’s look at some examples of using the scientific method . . . John and Tony are trying to make friends with the girls in the school. They both like to wear cologne and wonder which one will attract more girls.

They research the different types of cologne by reading about the history of cologne, talking to the people behind the perfume counters at department stores, and finding out the ingredients of different cologne.

Through their research they find articles that suggest that cologne with an ingredient called pheromones may help them get the attention of girls.

They make a hypothesis: “ If I use a cologne with pheromones, then I will attract more girls.”

For their experiment they need to make a list of their materials (test subjects, cologne) and their procedure

After they have performed their experiment they need to analyze their data. They decide to make a bar graph to record the number of girls that were attracted to each type of cologne.

Conclusion. The boys found that the pheromones did make a difference in attracting more girls. The Gap cologne attracted a total of 8 girls while Axe attracted 2 and Tag attracted 4 girls. Their hypothesis was proven!

Control The normal situation or the thing that you normally do. Use this to compare to other things in your experiment. (ex: the cologne you usually wear, or wearing no cologne)

Variable = change There are two types of variables: Independent variable – the thing you can choose or change; categories or things you are testing (ex: types of cologne) Dependent variable – the thing that you can’t change; the thing you measure This is the data you record during your experiment. (ex: number of girls attracted to the cologne)

Inference – to make a statement based upon observations or facts Example: Which of the following is a reasonable inference about the picture? The teacher is very smart. The student in the front wants to answer the question because he is raising his hand. The girl does not like the teacher. The chalk board is green.