1. What is the the Scientific Method?
A stepwise, logical method used to
answer questions- science related or not
Karl Pearson suggested “scientific
habit of mind” to solve all problems

2. When is the scientific method used?
Solve problems
Answer questions
Understand the world around us

3. Who uses the scientific method?
Only scientists
Science Students
Lawyers and Judges
Everyone
Nobody uses the scientific method. It is only taught in schools? Why do we even have to learn it??

4. What does a scientist look like?
Stephen Hillenburg – Marine Biologist and creator of Sponge Bob

5. Are these scientists?
Sylvia Earle – NOAA Chief scientist

6. What are the Steps of the scientific method?
OBSERVATION
QUESTION OR PURPOSE
HYPOTHESIS
Controlled Experiment
ANALYSIS
CONCLUSION
Research

7. OBSERVATION Gathering information
Using your own 5 senses and/or enhancing those senses by using specific tools

8. Question/purpose Is salt bad for you?
Does the earth revolve around the sun or does the sun revolve around the earth?
Are there aliens in this universe?
To determine if bacteria is found everywhere.
Humans are at the top of the food chain.
All living things made up of cells.

9. Hypothesis An educated guess proposed to answer a specific question
Based on observations and predictions
Offers a “testable” solution to a problem
Should be used to answer one question at a time
Contains the independent and dependent variable in the statement

10. Identify the following statements as either an observation, hypothesis, question or purpose.
The grasshoppers will be able to live in a box containing leaves
I have seen grasshoppers wherever there are a lot of plants
What do grasshoppers eat?
I want to find out what a grasshopper eats.

11. What are the Steps of the scientific method?
OBSERVATION
QUESTION OR PURPOSE
HYPOTHESIS
Controlled Experiment
ANALYSIS
CONCLUSION
Research

12. What is a Controlled Experiment?
Used to test the hypothesis in a specific setting
Can be in the laboratory or in the field
Has to be repeatable
Always contains two groups or setups:
-control group where all the variables are constant and where the independent variable is missing
-experimental group where all variables are identical to the control and contains the independent variable
Controls are necessary for the basis of comparisons with the experimental group.
Setting up good controls is the key element of good experiment design.

13. What is a variable?
A factor that is/could change during the course of the experiment. Ex: time, temperature, number of cells, number of bubbles Number of offspring, color/number of flowers/fruit/seeds/leaves etc.
Independent variable- factor that is being manipulated/changed by the experimenter. ex: time, temp, adding a fertilizer.
Dependent variable - factor that is changing or responding variable ex: number, color, height, weight etc
In a control of the experiment, the independent variable is missing. Effect of temp on the growth of plants. The control will be grown at the constant temp that was observed to be good for the growth of plants.

14. Control Variables
Variables that are similar in both the control and experimental group. Ex.
Hypothesis: To see the effect of plant growth with a fertilizer.
What is your independent and dependent variable?
Control variables: the type of plant, the amount of water, light, size of pot etc in both the experiment and control plants identical.

15. Which statement/s below are examples of a controlled experiment?
Two grasshoppers in a cage and given grass for food
Two grasshoppers each in a different cage and given a similar type and amount of grass each day
Two grasshoppers of similar size, each in a different cage- one given grass while the other given leaves for food.

16. You want to find out what type of food your cat likes
You want to find out what type of food your cat likes. What will be the independent variable in your experiment?
Your cat
Type of food
When you feed your cat
The amount of food you give your cat
Weigh your cat every other day.

17. You want to find out what type of food your cat likes
You want to find out what type of food your cat likes. What will be the control variable/s in your experiment?
Your cat
Type of food
When you feed your cat
The amount of food you give your cat
Weigh your cat every other day.

18. Data/Observations
Shows the results of the experiment. Should be organized – 2 types of data
Quantitative data is arranged in tables charts, audio, video recordings
Qualitative data is in the form of drawings, sketches, audio, video recordings

19. What are the Steps of the scientific method?
OBSERVATION
QUESTION OR PURPOSE
HYPOTHESIS
Controlled Experiment
ANALYSIS
CONCLUSION
Research

20. Analysis
Interpretation of the data and compare with the control to determine the validity of the experiment. i.e. experiment is compared to the control
Quantitative data uses mathematical and statistical tools to compare with the control Ex: mean, median, mode, percent, graphs, Qualitative data uses descriptive terms to compare with the control.

21. Which of these represent quantitative data?B

22. Conclusion Determine if the hypothesis was supported
Research similar works and provide a comparative in-depth analysis
Determine if the experiment was well designed. (Error Analysis)
Determine if the experiment needs to be repeated and/or modified- (Step Further)

23. Scientific Theory
Gives an explanation of why a phenomenon occurs or a relationship exists. Has wide-ranging explanatory power.
Based on evidence and/or experiments
Chromosomal theory explains why Mendel’s Laws of Heredity makes sense
Atomic Theory
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
Gravitational Theory
String Theory

24. Which of the following is a scientific theory?
Today is a good day
Most students in this school like pizza
The oxygen atom’s protons have a positive charge
All protons have a positive charge
My guess is more people live in NJ than CT.

25. Scientific Law
Explains an observation, usually with a mathematical relationship. Does not explain why it happens
Ex: Boyle’s law states the relationship between pressure and volume of a gas at constnt temperature but cannot explain why.
Why= Kinetic molecular theory of matter.
Mendel’s Laws of Heredity, -why Chromosomal theory
Newton’s Laws.

26. Relationship between Theory, Law and Hypothesis
Explanatory Principle
Based more on inference
Based on lots of evidence
Can change with new evidence
Concise descriptive principle
Based more on observations
Based on lots of evidence
Can change with new evidence
(may become)
Hypothesis

27. Limits of Science
Scientific approach cannot provide answers to subjective questions
Cannot provide moral, aesthetic, or philosophical standards

28. Science and the Supernatural
Science has run up against religious belief systems
Copernicus suggested that sun, not the Earth, was center of universe
Darwin suggested that life was shaped by evolution, not a single creation event

29. Asking Questions
Scientists still ask questions that challenge widely held beliefs
The external world, not internal conviction, is the testing ground for scientific beliefs

30. Draw Conclusion CONTROL GROUP Gets regular potato chips
EXPERIMENTAL GROUP
Gets Olestra
Make Prediction
Eat potato chips
Analyze Results
Draw Conclusion
Eating Olestra potato chips
does not cause intestinal distress
If Olestra® potato chips cause
intestinal distress then people
who eat them will get cramps
Perform Experiment
93 of 529 people (17.6%)
suffer from cramps later
89 of 563 people (15.8%)
About the same number of people in each group get cramps