SCIENTIFIC METHOD

#1 : IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM OR ASK A QUESTION BASED ON AN OBSERVATION

#2 : COLLECT INFORMATION  RESEARCH LIBRARY, COMPUTER, BOOKS, MAGAZINES

#3 : FORM A HYPOTHESIS  MAKE A PREDICTION SUGGEST AN EXPLANATION FOR WHY OR HOW SOMETHING HAPPENS; MUST BE TESTABLE

#4 : TEST THE HYPOTHESIS  DESIGN A CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT TEST FOR ONE VARIABLE AT A TIME – COMPARE TWO SETS OF RESULTS, SO THE EFFECT OF THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE CAN BE SEEN

a) INDEPENDENT VARIABLE THE FACTOR WHICH IS CHANGED DURING THE EXPERIMENT

b) DEPENDENT VARIABLE MEASURED TO IDENTIFY CHANGES, IF ANY, AS A RESULT OF CHANGES TO INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

c) CONSTANT VARIABLE ALL THE FACTORS OR CONDITIONS THAT MUST BE KEPT THE SAME IN AN EXPERIMENT

#5 : RECORD AND STUDY DATA  MEASURE USING APPROPRIATE TOOLS METRIC RULER, GRADUATED CYLINDER, BALANCE, THERMOMETER, STOPWATCH, SPRING SCALE, HAND LENS, MICROSCOPE

a) MAKE OBSERVATIONS QUALITATIVE : RELATES TO THE FIVE SENSES – COLOR, SHAPE, ODOR, TEXTURE, SOUND, TASTE QUANTITATIVE : CAN BE MEASURED – LENGTH, MASS, VOLUME, TEMPERATURE, DENSITY

b) ANALYZE THE RESULTS  COMMUNICATE DATA USING TABLES & GRAPHS SHOW PATTERNS AND RELATIONSHIPS WHICH MAKE REACHING A CONCLUSION EASIER

#6 : DRAW CONCLUSIONS STATE WHETHER OR NOT THE RESULTS SUPPORT THE HYPOTHESIS

DEVELOP THEORIES DEVELOP THEORIES REPEATED VERIFICATION OVER TIME (BECAUSE OF SIMILAR RESULTS)

PREDICTIONS TO FORETELL WHAT IS LIKELY TO HAPPEN BASED ON AN OBSERVATION OR EXPERIMENT STATEMENT MADE IN ADVANCE BASED ON PATTERNS IN DATA OR OBSERVATIONS

INFERENCES TO DRAW CONCLUSION BASED ON FACTS OR INFORMATION GAINED FROM AN INQUIRY A LOGICAL INTERPRETATION MADE ON THE BASIS OF FACTS OR PRIOR KNOWLEDGE RATHER THAN ON DIRECT OBSERVATION

CONCLUSIONS A DECISION AS TO WHETHER THE HYPOTHESIS WAS CORRECT OR PROVEN BASED UPON THE RESULTS

KEY TERMS  WORDS TO KNOW 1. SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY 2. OBSERVATION 3. DATA 4. INFERENCE 5. HYPOTHESIS 6. VARIABLE 7. CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT 8. SCIENTIFIC THEORY

SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY THE DIVERSE WAYS IN WHICH SCIENTISTS STUDY THE NATURAL WORLD

OBSERVATION A SKILL THAT INVOLVES THE USE OF ONE OR MORE OF THE SENSES TO GATHER SENSES TO GATHER INFORMATION AND COLLECT DATA

DATA THE FACTS, FIGURES, AND OTHER EVIDENCE GATHERED THROUGH OBSERVATION

INFERENCE AN INTERPRETATION OF AN OBSERVATION THAT IS BASED OBSERVATION THAT IS BASED ON EVIDENCE OR PRIOR ON EVIDENCE OR PRIORKNOWLEDGE

HYPOTHESIS A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION FOR A SET OF OBSERVATIONS OR ANSWER TO A SCIENTIFIC QUESTION; MUST BE TESTABLE

VARIABLE ANY FACTOR THAT CAN CHANGE IN AN EXPERIMENT

CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT AN EXPERIMENT IN WHICH ALL OF THE VARIABLES EXCEPT OF THE VARIABLES EXCEPT FOR ONE REMAIN THE SAME FOR ONE REMAIN THE SAME

SCIENTIFIC THEORY A WELL-TESTED CONCEPT THAT EXPLAINS A WIDE RANGE OF OBSERVATIONS

Put the Following Steps in the Proper Order A) FORM A HYPOTHESIS – MAKE A PREDICTION B) ANALYZE THE RESULTS – COMMUNICATE DATA USING TABLES AND GRAPHS C) ARRIVE AT A CONCLUSION D) TEST THE HYPOTHESIS – DESIGN A CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT E) RECORD DATA – MEASURE USING APPROPRIATE TOOLS F) MAKE OBSERVATIONS G) IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM OR ASK A QUESTION