1. Scientific Method

2. Steps in the Scientific Method
1. Observation
2. Ask questions
3. Research
4. Hypothesis
5. Experiment/ Test
6. Data Collection
7. Conclusion

3. 1.Observations Gathered through your senses.
A scientist notices something in their natural world.
Scientists use their 5 senses to make observations.

4. Observations
An example of an observation might be noticing “When my mom cleans,
it smells like
lemons.”

5. Observations lead
to questions.

6. 2. Ask questions
I wonder if lemon juice can clean things or is it added just so things smell fresh.

7. 3. Research Scientist do research after they ask a question.
They do research by studying reference
materials.

8. 3. Research Reference materials include Encyclopedias, books,
magazines or journals,
the Internet,
and more.

9. 4.Hypothesis A suggested solution to the problem. Must be testable
Sometimes written as If…Then… statements
Predicts an outcome

10. Hypothesis
An example of a hypothesis might be that “If I add lemon juice to dish soap then it will clean better than dish soap by itself.”

11. A procedure to test the hypothesis.
5.Experiment
A procedure to test the hypothesis.

12. Variable – factor in the experiment that is being tested

13. A good or “valid” experiment will only have ONE variable!

14. Scientific Experiments Follow Rules
An experimenter changes one factor (one factor only) and observes or measures what happens.

15. Controlled or Constants
The experimenter makes a special effort to keep other factors constant so that they will not effect the outcome.

16. What is the Purpose of Controls and Constants?
Controls are NOT being tested
Controls are used for COMPARISON

17. One more thing… it is best to make several trials.

18. 6. Data Results of the experiment
May be quantitative (measured) or qualitative (observations)

19. Data
Must be organized
Can be organized into charts, tables, or graphs

20. 7. Conclusion
The answer to the hypothesis based on the data obtained from the experiment

21. Conclusion Your conclusion may be that
your hypothesis was wrong and that
is OK.

22. In order to verify the results, experiments must be retested.

23. to make sure the results
Retest
Do your experiment
at least three (3) times
to make sure the results
are accurate!

24. Let’s Review

25. Scientific Method 1) Make observations 2) Ask questions
3) Research by studying what has already been done in that area
4) Come up with a hypothesis you would like to test
5) Design an Experiment to test the hypothesis
6) Collect Data
7) Form a Conclusion

26. YOU
are the scientist!!
Get busy making observations!!!