1. The Methods of Scientists
Part Two
ISN p. 11

2. Design an experiment to see how high a tennis ball would bounce if you dropped it one meter from the floor. Write 3 reasons why it is important to perform an experiment multiple times.

3. Rinse, Wash, Repeat
Repeated Trials- doing the experiment more than once
Replication-an attempt by another scientist to do the same experiment
Repeating trials and replication helps improve the accuracy of results and makes the conclusion stronger
It also helps eliminate bias or errors in the experiment’s design
Experiments need to be replicable, or done so that another scientist can do the same thing using the same procedure
The more trials and replications, the stronger the results!

4. You are performing an experiment to see if plants grow better if you talk to them. Your results show that the plant you spoke to grew more than the other plants. List three reasons why your data supports you hypothesis but doesn’t prove it.

5. Prove it! So why don’t we say “our results prove that . . .”?
We always say “our results support” or “our results fail to support”
In science, a theory cannot be proven, only disproven
Ideas can be supported by experiment results

6. You have formed a hypothesis for an experiment to see which soil allows plants to grow best. When you get the results of the experiment, you find out that your hypothesis is inaccurate. List three reasons why your research was still beneficial.

7. Can bad hypotheses actually be good?
YES!!!
Data gathered from an experiment either supports or disproves a hypothesis
Even disproven hypotheses can lead to new experiments and new data
They often lead to new questions and therefore new experiments

8. So many sciences!
Biology, limnology, ichthyology, botany, oceanography, chemistry, physiology, anatomy, meteorology, astronomy
ALL fields of science use the same basic methods in to investigate problems and questions
Scientists also use special tools that are unique to their field
For example, astronomers use telescopes to look at the universe and biologist use microscopes to look at organisms