Science Inquiry Process

The steps Ask a question Collect & interpret data Make a hypothesis Make a conclusion Communicate your findings Design an experiment NOT ALWAYS ONE STEP TO THE NEXT

1. Ask a Question What are you trying to find out in your experiment? Must be answerable and testable. Must not be about an opinion. As a class, lets come up with 3 good questions.

GOOD OR BAD QUESTIONS? How long does it take light from the sun to reach the earth? Who is a better rapper, 50 Cent or Eminem? Who is the best athlete in the world? How long does it take a stopped Corvette to reach a distance of 2 miles on a flat track? What tastes better, a cheeseburger or a hotdog? How much energy does an atomic bomb create when it explodes?

2. Make a Hypothesis An educated guess that answers your question. Based on all that you have learned in your lifetime Must be answerable and testable.

GOOD OR BAD HYPOTHESES? Q – How much energy does an atomic bomb create when it explodes? Atomic bombs are wrong, they kill people and animals. An atomic bomb creates 600 Mega Joules of energy when it explodes.

GOOD OR BAD HYPOTHESES? Q – How long does it take light from the sun to reach the earth? It takes light from the sun a million years to reach the earth. It takes light a long time to reach the earth.

GOOD OR BAD HYPOTHESES? Q – How long does it take a stopped Corvette to reach a distance of 2 miles on a flat track? Corvettes are the fastest cars ever made. It will take a stopped Corvette 1 minute to go 2 miles on a flat track.

1.PROCEDURE 2.TRIALS 3.VARIABLES 4.GROUPS 3. Design an Experiment

Procedure: 1. MATERIALS – Stuff you need to test your hypothesis 2. INSTRUCTIONS – Steps you follow to test your hypothesis. Like a recipe that you follow.

Example of a good procedure: Question to answer: How long does it take for a Corvette to reach a distance of 2 miles? Hypothesis to test: It will take a stopped Corvette 1 min to go 2 miles on a flat track. Materials: 1 brand new Corvette (ready to race). 4 miles of flat track. 1 driver 1 stopwatch 1 stopwatch person who also says go.

Instructions: 1.The stopwatch person says go and starts the stopwatch. 2. When stopwatch person says go, the driver presses the accelerator to the floor. 3. The stopwatch person stops the stopwatch when the front of the Corvette reaches the 2 mile mark. 4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 five times and record the times.

QUESTION: What is the shortest distance it takes to completely stop a brand new Corvette going 100 mph using only its brakes?

HYPOTHESIS:

DESIGN AN EXPERIMENT MATERIALS:

DESIGN AN EXPERIMENT INSTRUCTIONS:

Trials The number of times you run the experiment. The more trials you run, the more you can trust your results.

Question: Does UV exposure affect the growth of tadpoles? Hypothesis: UV exposure will limit the growth of tadpoles.

Materials: 3 tadpoles (Leopard frogs) 1 UV lamp 1 Stop watch 1 Scale Instructions: 1.Gather materials 2. Place one tadpole in a room protected from UV light (This tadpole should never experience UV light)

3. Place one tadpole directly under the UV lamp for 15 minutes a day 4. Place another tadpole under the UV lamp for 30 minutes a day. 5. Measure and record the weight of each of the tadpoles at the end of each day. Repeat 1-6 at the same time each day for 10 consecutive days

Variables Dependent Variables – The thing that you are measuring. Independent Variables – The thing that you make different. I in Independent stands for what I make different in the experiment.

Variables What is the dependent variable? The weight of the frog – this is what you are measuring What is the independent variable? The amount of UV rays – this is what you made different

TYPE OF FROG LEOPARD FROG LEOPARD FROG LEOPARD FROG AMOUNT OF FOOD PER DAY 8 oz AMOUNT OF WATER PER DAY 2 oz UV EXPOSURE PER DAY 0 min.15 min.60 min INDEPENDENT VARIABLE

Control Group – The group that you are comparing things against. Experimental Group – The groups that are being tested. Groups

TYPE OF FROG LEOPARD FROG LEOPARD FROG LEOPARD FROG AMOUNT OF FOOD PER DAY 8 oz AMOUNT OF WATER PER DAY 2 oz UV EXPOSURE PER DAY 0 min.15 min.60 min Experimental Group

4. Collect & Interpret Data Data is the information that you get from running your experiment It is your dependent variable This tells you whether you need to run more trials, re-design the experiment, or move to the next step.

FROG FROG FROG Weight of tadpoles per day (grams)

5. Make some Conclusions This is where you tell what you learned. You MUST tell whether your hypothesis is SUPPORTED or NOT SUPPORTED NEVER RIGHT OR WRONG What could you do to make the experiment run better. What other questions do you have after finishing the experiment?

CONCLUSION

Share what you learned with others. This is how new things are invented and problems in the world are solved. 6. Communicate Findings