Does music affect on animal behavior? Does the color of food or drinks affect whether or not we like them? Where are the most germs in your school? Does music have an affect on plant growth? Which paper towel brand is the strongest? Can the food we eat affect our heart rate? Can background noise levels affect how well we concentrate? Does acid rain affect the growth of aquatic plants? Does the color of light used on plants affect how well they grow? Do athletic students have better lung capacity? Does the type of potting soil used in planting affect how fast the plant grows? What type of food allow mold to grow the fastest? Does having worms in soil help plants grow faster? How would you answer a question to the right? (saying I would google the answer doesn’t count) How would you answer the question and be confident enough to share it with the world? DSQ

Sci. Oly. Scientific Method

Overview

Step 1: Question  Almost all scientific inquiry begins with an observation that piques curiosity or raises a question.  Newton and the apple  Galileo and heliocentric universe  Floating soap  The purpose of the question is to narrow the focus of the inquiry, to identify the problem in specific terms.  Coming up with scientific questions isn't difficult and doesn't require training as a scientist. If you've ever been curious about something, if you've ever wanted to know what caused something to happen, then you've probably already asked a question that could launch a scientific investigation.

My question  Do individuals that sing have a higher lung capacity than other individuals?

Step 2: Background Research  Research the existing knowledge about the question.  You'd want to read as much about your question as possible, because the question may have already been answered, or you may find information that will help you form your hypothesis.  So I would do some research on lung capacity and singers.  See what people have found

Step 3: Construct Hypothesis  More than a guess.  it is based upon a thorough review of the existing knowledge of the subject  basically an educated guess  The hypothesis should posit a cause-effect relationship.  Has to be testable  Stating the effect like a fact is more like a real hypothesis. For those who are still stuck, use the "if" and "then" statement: If I try to start my car and it doesn't, then it is out of gas.  Ex. - Individuals that sing should have higher lung capacities because they exercise their diaphragm allowing them to expand their lungs more.

Step 4: Test Hypothesis  Design an experiment that will either confirm or fail to confirm the hypothesis.  It should be "controlled  Let’s measure singers and non singers lung capacities  For complex questions, there may be hundreds or thousands of potential causes, and it can be difficult or impossible to isolate them in any single experiment.

Test Hypothesis Cont….  How to control and experiment  Know what caused what in your experiment!!!  Do singers have a higher lung capacity?  Control group -  Experiment group –  Independent Variable –  Dependent Variable –

Test Hypothesis Cont….  How to control and experiment  Know what caused what in your experiment!!!  Do singers have a higher lung capacity?  Control group - test lung capacity of non singers  Experiment group – test lung capacity of singer  Independent Variable – singer or non singer  Dependent Variable – lung capacity

Step 5: Analyze Results  Data - facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis  Quantitative data – data with numbers  Charts and graphs  Qualitative data – data that describes  Is your hypothesis true or false. Maybe you will have to tweak some things and start again.

Step 6: Report Results  You will need to communicate what you found out with the scientific community.  To do this, you write an article, lab report, on what you did  There is a format for this  We will look at soon.