The Process of Science Designing an Investigation

The Process of Science Remember, there’s no such thing as THE scientific method…it’s more like “scientific methods” or “the scientific process” – The process of searching for answers to questions about the natural world doesn’t always follow a set of step-by-step procedures/rules.

Choosing a Topic Choose a topic to investigate. – Make sure it is interesting to you. – Make sure you have the resources (tools, ability, time) to investigate it. – Make sure there is an adequate research base available to you. – Make sure there are answerable questions that are relevant to your topic. So…our topic of investigation is…

Soda & Mentos Reaction

Research Question Refine your topic into a testable question. – A testable question is one that can be answered with data you gather. One or more variables can be identified and tested to see the impact of that variable on the original set of conditions. – Your question should also be relevant (have meaning).

Soda and Mentos Research Question Brainstorm some testable questions for our soda and Mentos investigation. – Begin by making a list of independent and dependent variables that we might choose (in other words, things that may have an effect on the reaction): INDEPENDENT Brand/Type of Soda Number of Mentos Temperature of Soda/Mentos DEPENDENT Height of Spray Duration (Time) of Spray

Researching Your Topic Search for information relevant to your topic to generate possible answers. – Try to consider every reasonable alternative – Use your research to narrow down your possibilities Hypothesis vs. Prediction – A hypothesis is a testable explanation of the phenomenon. » Ex) If (insert hypothesis) is true, then (insert outcome) will be observed. – A prediction is a “guess” about which outcome will be observed.

Soda and Mentos Research Have others already attempted to answer this question? What information might be helpful to answer this question? – What causes the reaction? – What ingredients are present? – How will the environment affect the reaction? Where can we get this information? – Mythbusters episode – Internet research

Planning Your Investigation Plan out a timetable for your investigation. Make yourself deadlines and stick to them! Design your investigation. – What type of investigation? – What data will you need? How/What will you measure/observe? How will the data help you answer the question? – How will you control variables (if necessary)? – What materials will you need?

Soda and Mentos Investigation What type of investigation? What data will we need? – How/What will we measure/observe? – How will the data help us answer the question? How will we control variables? What materials will we need?

Analysis How can we learn from the investigation? What can we learn from the investigation? Think of ways to report your data. – What data is important? How can you highlight that importance? – What relationships exist? How can you show them?

Soda and Mentos Analysis What data is important? – How can we highlight its importance? What relationships exist? – What can we compare? – Does the data show relationships between the variables? How can we show them?

Conclusions What conclusions can be supported by the data? – DATA consists of the measurements/observations you recorded during your investigation. – When data is used to support a claim, it becomes EVIDENCE. Evidence should be able to be JUSTIFIED with relevant scientific concepts

Soda and Mentos Conclusions What conclusions can be supported by our data? – What data do we have to draw from? – How does that data support our conclusion? – Why are we able to use that data to support our conclusion? How can we use scientific concepts to explain the relationships?