1. Introduction to Scientific Inquiry

2. What is Science? A way of:
Learning about the natural world
Exploring problems and answering
questions about the natural world
The goal is to understand the world around us

3. Thinking like a Scientist
Observing – Using one or more of your senses to gather information (sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell)
Qualitative- Use senses
Quantitative- Numbers
Inferring –Explaining or interpreting
things you observe
Doesn’t mean guessing wildly
Based on reasoning from what you already know

4. Still Thinking Like a Scientist
Predicting – Making a forecast of what will happen in the future based on past experience or evidence
Scientific Attitudes – Includes curiosity, honesty, open-mindedness, skepticism, and creativity

5. Scientific Inquiry
Refers to the ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence they gather

6. Steps of Scientific Inquiry
Posing Questions- Often begins with a problem or question about an observation

7. Steps of Scientific Inquiry
Developing a Hypothesis – A possible explanation for a set of observations or answer to a scientific questions
Must be testable
Investigations and evidence will either support or disprove

8. Steps of Scientific Inquiry
Designing an Experiment
Controlled experiment – a test of a hypothesis under conditions established by the scientist
Variable - one of the factors that can change in an experiment
Manipulated variable – The variable that the scientist changes
Responding variable – The variable that changes because of the manipulated variable
Operational definition – Describes how to measure a particular variable or define a particular term

9. Steps of Scientific Inquiry
Collecting and Interpreting Data
Data – The facts, figures, and other evidence gathered through observations
After data has been collected it needs to be interpreted
Graphs can help with interpreting data by revealing patterns and/or trends

10. Steps of Scientific Inquiry
Drawing Conclusions – A conclusion is a decision about how to interpret what you learned from an experiment
Conclusions may:
Support a hypothesis
Show a hypothesis to be incorrect
Need more data before conclusions
can be reached
*Not always the endpoint…results often lead to
new questions, new hypotheses, and new experiments

11. Steps of Scientific Inquiry
Communicating Results – The sharing of ideas and experimental findings with others through writing and speaking

12. Scientific Theories and Laws
Scientific Theory – A well tested scientific concept that explains a wide range of observations
Has withstood repeated tests
Will be changed or abandoned if tests fail to support

13. Scientific Theories and Laws
Scientific Law – A statement that describes what scientists expect to happen every time under a particular set of conditions
Describes an observed pattern in nature but does not provide an explanation for it