1. 7 STEPS OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

2. Step 1 - Observation
Using your 5 senses to learn about the natural world.
Ex: hearing crickets chirping at night
Ex: seeing bats catch insects over a brightly lit street lamp.

3. Step 2 – Ask Questions Asking questions: helps you define a problem
allows you to search for logical explanations
helps you find ways to solve problems
Ex: Why do insects congregate (gather) around bright lights?
Ex: How does the bat locate insects in the dark?

4. Step 3 – Perform Research
Collecting background information about the subject
Helps you find out what questions still need to be answered.
Reliable research sources:
Internet sites that are updated daily
News outlet sites
Government or university websites
Peer reviewed professional journals
**BEWARE BIAS – the tendency to present inaccurate or unreasonable judgment for personal gain.

5. Step 4 – Form a Hypothesis
An educated guess based on observed patterns over time.
Inductive reasoning: use observations of specific events to make a hypothesis about general trends.
Ex: Jill notices each time she throws a ball up, it comes down. She inductively reasons that next time she throws the ball up, it will come down.
Deductive reasoning: use a general truth to hypothesize particular events.
Ex: Cory uses deductive reasoning to say, “That’s Newton’s Theory of Gravity – what goes up, must come down. So next time you throw the ball up, it will certainly come down.”

6. Step 5 – Test the Hypothesis
A scientific experiment gives measurable results which prove or disprove the hypothesis.
ONE variable is tested at a time.
Independent variable – the factor that is changed by the researcher on purpose
Dependent variable – the factor that changes because of the independent variable; the factor that is measured or counted.
Control variables – all the other factors that are kept constant (not changed) during the experiment

7. Step 6 – Collecting & Presenting Data
Data is gathered from observations & measurements taken during an experiment.
Qualitative data: observations made with your senses; cannot be represented with numbers.
Ex: shades of colors, tastes, smells, etc.
Quantitative data: measurements that are expressed as numbers
Ex: length, weight, mass, volume, time, temperature, etc.

8. Step 7 – Drawing Conclusions
Conclusion – a judgment based on observation & experimentation.
A logical statement made from the results of the experiment.