Steps in the Scientific Method

Identify the Problem or Ask Your Question Think about problems or questions you have come across in your daily life. You might be thinking I don’t have any of these. However, every one of us comes across many of these every day without even realizing it.

Identify the Problem or Ask Your Question Maybe you’ve wondered what kind of gum keeps its flavor the longest or with which kind you can blow the best bubble. Have you ever gotten gum in your hair? If so, you know what a pain it is. I wonder if there is a way to get it out without cutting your hair.

Identify the Problem or Ask Your Question The other day Grace and I were fishing and we ran out of worms. This was a problem because we weren’t ready to be done. I wondered if there was anything around me that we could use for bait.

Identify the Problem or Ask Your Question I remember being in fifth grade and having my left hand covered in pencil lead because I wrote with my left hand. Then everything else I would touch would become dirty. I wanted to figure out a way I could write with my left hand without getting pencil lead on it.

Identify the Problem or Ask Your Question  In your science journal, spend 5 minutes writing down as many problems or questions you have come across recently or in the past. Do not discuss these with a neighbor. You will have a chance to share after the 5 minutes.

Identify the Problem or Ask Your Question  Include the following question in your science journal: Does the amount you pay for a bag of chocolate chip cookies affect how many chips are in the cookie?

Form a Hypothesis A hypothesis is an educated guess using the information you already know. It is not a random guess. There needs to be a reason why you are guessing what the answer will be.

Form a Hypothesis Let’s look at a question we wrote in our science journals and see if we can form a hypothesis. Remember, a hypothesis should include your reason for making the guess. Does the amount you pay for a bag of chocolate chip cookies affect how many chips are in the cookie? Write your hypothesis in your science journal. Don’t forget to explain why you made your hypothesis. When everybody in your group finishes, each person should share their hypothesis and reason.

Form a Hypothesis After everyone shared, did you notice anything? Who was right?

Conduct Research This step will not happen in every experiment you perform. However, for some experiments, you might find that you need to know a little more about a topic. You might need to do some research before you can make a hypothesis or you might need to do research to set up an experiment.

Conduct Research Look at the following examples. Would you need to do research? Can I see more star constellations in the country or at the lake? Does the amount you pay for a bag of chocolate chip cookies affect how many chips are in the cookie? What is the best way to get grass stains out of clothes? What kind of cereal stays crunchy the longest?

Plan and Organize the Experiment This is the step where you set up and perform the experiment. Make sure you plan this part carefully. Think about how you can get the information you need. Also think about how much time you will need. Will this experiment take place in one day, several days, several weeks, etc.

Plan and Organize the Experiment One of the most important words to remember when setting up an experiment is the word… VARIABLE A variable is something that is different in an experiment. It is very important that you have only one changing variable at a time.

Plan and Organize the Experiment Mr. J decides to find out what kind of pop makes him burp the longest. He buys 3 different kinds of pop; root beer, grape soda, and Mountain Dew. He drinks 6 ounces of each and then performs his test. Discuss with your group what you think is the variable?

Plan and Organize the Experiment Another teacher does a similar experiment. However, there is a problem. See if you can figure it out. Mr. Z decides to find out what kind of pop makes him burp the longest. He buys 3 different kinds of pop; root beer, grape soda, and Mountain Dew. He opens each can and drinks some of each and then performs his test. Discuss with your group any problems you see.

Plan and Organize the Experiment In your science journal, plan an experiment you could perform to solve our earlier question: Does the amount you pay for a bag of chocolate chip cookies affect how many chips are in the cookie? Be sure that you have only one changing variable in your experiment.

Plan and Organize the Experiment As you are performing your experiment, it is important to record your data. Data is the information you get when you do your experiment. Be sure to record your information neatly and clearly.

Plan and Organize the Experiment Sometimes a scientist plans to do an experiment more than one time. For example, a scientist wants to see which candy lasts longer if you are sucking on it, a Jolly Rancher or a peppermint disk. Why might a scientist perform this experiment more than once? Discuss in your group why a scientist should do this experiment more than once.

Plan and Organize the Experiment Data might be recorded as numbers. Week 1Week 2Week 3 water3 in.5 in.10 in. Sugar water 2 in.4 in.9 in. Salt water1 in.3 in.

Plan and Organize the Experiment Data might be recorded as observations. Day 1Training has no effect Day 2Sat one time when given dog treat Day 3Will sit every time if he sees I have a treat. Won’t sit if I don’t have a treat. Day 4Sat 5 out of 6 times when I had a treat. Also sat 2 out of 3 times without a treat. Day 1Training has no effect Day 2Training has no effect Day 3Sat one time by himself when he saw I had a treat. Day 4Sat 3 out of 6 times when I had a treat but would not sit when I didn’t have a treat. Fido Fifi

Plan and Organize the Experiment How will you record your cookie data. In your science journal, write how you will keep this information. Now let’s conduct our cookie experiment!

Organize and Analyze Data Once you have collected your data, you need to look for a way to organize it. Many times a graph is used. If your data cannot be put in a graph, a table can be created to display your data. Remember, others will be learning from your data. Think about the size of your graph or table. Neatness is also very important in this step.

Organize and Analyze Data It is also important in this step to determine if you got the information you needed in order to answer your question. This happens to every scientist. It does not mean you did something wrong. This happens to every scientist. When this happens, the scientist tries to determine why it didn’t work and plans a different experiment to answer the same question. Scientists learn from what doesn’t work. They don’t do this…

Organize and Analyze Data Did you get the information you needed from the cookie experiment to answer your question? In your science journal, finish one of the two sentences below. I got the data I need. The next thing I’ll do is… I didn’t get the data I need. The next thing I’ll do is…

Draw Conclusions Drawing conclusions means looking at all you’ve done and trying to learn from it. As a scientist, what did you learn from your data? Can you be certain about your answer or are there other possible reasons something happened the way it did. To do a good job with this, you will need to spend time thinking about the data. If your conclusion came to you right away, you haven’t learned everything you can from your data.

Draw Conclusions In your science journal, spend 5 minutes writing down all the conclusions you can draw from the data you received in the cookie experiment. If you are done before the timer goes off, you haven’t thought long enough. Many times, the best learning and greatest ideas come after a lot of thought.

Communicate Results The last step in the scientific process is to think about who you will share this information with. It might be classmates, parents or other family members, friends, dog lovers, local gardeners, bloggers, the governor, etc., etc., etc…. Who might be interested in the information you learned from the cookie experiment? In your science journal, write two different people who would find this information useful.