1. Scientific Method

2. Going on a trip…
Throw all your clothes in a suitcase or plan what you are going to wear?

3. Scientific Method
An organized process used by scientists to do research

4. Using our senses to gather information
Observation
Using our senses to gather information
This might seem pretty obvious, but throughout history, many educated men and women rejected the idea that you could understand the world simply by looking at it.
“If our goal is to learn about the world, then the first thing we must do is look around us and see what’s there”

5. How many teeth does a horse have?
Someone quoted Aristotle
Someone quoted St. Augustine
Young monk noted since there was a horse outside they could look in its mouth
“Fell upon him, smote him hip and thigh, and cast him from the presence of educated men”

6. Observation
Qualitative Data – info that describes color, odor, shape, or other physical characteristics
Quantitative Data – Uses numbers

7. Qualitative and Quantitative Data?

8. Pose a question, missing information
Problem
Pose a question, missing information
Why?
What?
How?

9. a tentative educated guess
Hypothesis
a tentative educated guess
Means nothing unless there is data to support it!!!

10. Forming Hypothesis
Look for patterns that will help you make predictions about the problem
Break the problem down into smaller, simpler problems
Must be testable

11. A Scientific Hypothesis
The moon is made of cheese.
The alignment of planets in the sky determines the best time for making decisions.
Intelligent life exists on planets somewhere in the universe besides Earth.
1 – can be proven right or wrong by going there 2 – can’t be proven right or wrong, subjective 3 – can be proven right but not wrong
All hypothesis’s must be able to be proven wrong!

12. predict consequences that can be observed if the hypothesis is correct
Predictions
predict consequences that can be observed if the hypothesis is correct
If… Then…

13. Test predictions
do experiments to see if consequences you predicted are present

14. Aristotle’s Hypothesis (384-322 B.C.)
Claimed heavy objects naturally fall faster than light objects
Believed for nearly 2000 years!
Everyone respected him as a great thinker so he must be right, and people had seen stones fall faster than leaves. Without investigating further, it is easy to believe false ideas

15. Galileo’s Experiment
Studied Aristotle’s hypothesis
HE EXPERIMENTED!

16. experiments Do them over and over!
The more trials you perform the more accurate your results are

17. Was your hypothesis right or wrong?
Draw Conclusion
Make a judgment based on the information obtained
Was your hypothesis right or wrong?

18. Watch out for biases!
Accept their experimental findings even when they would like them to be different
Mistakes or deceptions are sooner or later found out!

19. Failure! What if you are wrong?
“I didn't fail, I found 2,000 ways how not to make a light bulb; I only need to find one way to make it work.”

20. A hypothesis can never be proven!
If data supports it, it only indicates that it might be true

21. An investigation of Sea Butterflies
Study of toxic chemicals released by marine life to deter predators
Observation: Many Amphipods carried sea butterflies on their backs. If they lost one they would quickly find another one.

22. An investigation of Sea Butterflies
Question: those carrying sea butterflies were slowed down, so why did the amphipods abduct the sea butterflies?

23. An investigation of Sea Butterflies
Hypothesis: amphipods carry sea butterflies to produce a chemical that deters a predator of the amphipod.

24. An investigation of Sea Butterflies
Prediction: they would isolate this chemical and an amphipod predator would be deterred by it

25. An investigation of Sea Butterflies
Test Predictions:
Predator fish rejected sea butterfly
Predator fish ate amphipod
Predator fish rejected amphipod
with sea butterfly

26. An investigation of Sea Butterflies
Conclusion: results expected if sea butterfly was secreting a chemical, but could also be that fish don’t like the feel of sea butterfly so conclusion couldn’t be drawn yet

27. An investigation of Sea Butterflies
So now what?

28. An investigation of Sea Butterflies
Test Predictions:
Predator fish ate fish meal pellets
Predator fish rejected pellets
containing sea butterfly extract

29. An investigation of Sea Butterflies
Conclusion: after many experiments with extracting chemicals, they were finally able to conclude that the secretion of pteroenone was being used by the amphipods to deter their predators