Scientific Method Mrs. Schiffert 4 th Grade

There are many types of scientists. Biologists Chemists Physicists Computer engineers Geneticist Marine Biologist Geologist Meteorologist Seismologist Paleontologist Zoologist Gemologist

What do all types of scientist have in common? They are all searching to learn new things. To learn this new information, they use a process called the Scientific Method.

What is the Scientific Method? The Scientific Method is a process that is strictly followed by all scientists. It consists of 6 steps that must be followed in order. You never really get to the end of the Scientific Method, as once you get to step#6, you come right back to step #1.

Step 1: Purpose What do you want to find out? This is usually written as a question. You need a purpose before you can proceed to any other steps.

Step 2: Research Find out as much as you can about your topic. You can use books, the Internet, newspapers, journals, interviews, and prior knowledge.

Step 3: Hypothesis Take an educated guess to the answer to your question. Your hypothesis will not always be correct, and this is OK.

Step 4: Experiment Design a test to see if your hypothesis is correct. You must record all of the materials needed, as well as all of the steps that will be done so that the test can be repeated.

Step 5: Analysis Record what happened during the experiment. Use your 5 senses. However, you must be careful to only use taste and smell if your teacher tells you it is safe.

Step 6: Conclusion Was your hypothesis correct? It’s OK if your hypothesis was incorrect. Scientists usually decide to go back to step #1, because they realize that there is something else that they want to learn about now.

The Scientific Method is a cycle, much like the Weather Cycle. It is continuous. Once a scientist starts, they continue on and on.

We know a lot today, and have a lot of conveniences because of scientists who used the Scientific Method.