1. Ch. 1: Scientific Investigations
Vocabulary:
observe, prediction, investigate, experiment, record, data, conclusion

2. Observing the World
At some point in time, you might have noticed something you thought was weird:
Why does bread grow white and blue mold?
How do birds fly?
When the astronauts were on the moon they were able to bounce when they walked. Why don’t we bounce when we walk?

3. Setting Up an Investigation
Once you have thought about what you want to know, it’s time to set up an experiment to find out why it works.
Let’s use bread mold as our example.

4. Setting Up an Investigation: Question
The first thing you need to do is ask yourself the question you are curious about
This question can be phrased anyway you want as long as you can test it using your senses.
Question: Does Bread Mold Grow Faster in
Warm or Cold Temperatures?

5. Setting Up an Investigation: Hypothesis
The second thing you need to do is make an educated guess about your question.
This educated guess is called a hypothesis.
Remember this is not just a random guess, make sure you read about the subject you are curious about before you start on your experiment.
Someone might have done the experiment before you and has already found the answer.
If you can find that, you’ll save yourself a lot of work.

6. Setting Up an Investigation: Hypothesis
I’ve read about bread mold, so I think my hypothesis will be:
Hypothesis: Bread mold grows faster in warmer temperatures.

7. Setting Up an Investigation: Materials
Before you work on your experiment, you have to look for things you can use to test your hypothesis.
In order to make the test fair you have to use the same type of materials for each part of the test.
For example, I can’t use a piece of wheat bread and a piece of rye bread for my experiment, because both of them mold at different rates.
Remember: All your materials need to be the same to make sure your test is as fair as possible!

8. Setting Up an Investigation: Experiment
The third thing you will need to do is investigate your question.
To do that you will need to design an experiment.
An experiment is a series of steps you will use to test your hypothesis.
Don’t forget, one of your most important parts of your experiment is the control.
The control is the part that you have not done anything to, that you can compare to the parts that you are trying to test.

9. Setting Up an Investigation: Experiment
Step 1: Place three pieces of bread in plastic bags.
Step 2: Place one plastic bag in the freezer.
Step 3: Place one plastic bag on the heater vent.
Step 3: Place one plastic bag on the counter at room temperature.
Step 4: Check the bags every day and measure the amount of mold on them using a ruler.
Step 5: Record data in Science notebook.
Step 6: Repeat steps one through five for one week.

10. Setting Up an Investigation: Experiment
One more reminder: Don’t forget to make one of your steps for your experiment checking on your test and recording your data.
You’ll need data for the next parts of the Scientific Investigation.

11. Gathering and Recording Data
As time passes, part of your experiment will require that you write stuff down, so that you don’t forget what you have already done.
This is called gathering data.
In this case I said I would check on my bread samples once a week.
Try to be as consistent as you can when you check on your data.
If you can do it at the same time every day your test will be the most accurate.
If possible, try to take pictures of the experiment as it is going on.

12. Gathering and Recording Data
For my experiment, I wrote down:
Data:
Day 1:Freezer: No mold
Counter: No mold
Heater: No mold
Day 2: Freezer: No mold
Day 3: Freezer: No mold
Day 4: Freezer: No mold
Counter: 1 cm mold circle
Heater: No mold
Day 5: Freezer: No mold
Counter: 3 cm mold circle
Heater: 1 cm mold circle
Day 6: Freezer: No mold
Counter: 6 cm mold circle
Day 7: Freezer: No mold
Counter: 8 cm mold circle

13. Gathering and Recording Data
Now that I have my data, I need to do something with it.
I decided to make a graph.
I thought that it would look the best as a graph, but I could also have made a chart or a table to present my findings.

14. Gathering and Recording Data

15. Coming to a Conclusion
After you get done studying your data you are ready to start drawing a conclusion.
Drawing a conclusion does not mean that you will draw a picture.
Instead, it means gathering your ideas to see if you were right and comparing it to your hypothesis.
Usually your conclusion is a few paragraphs that tells what you found out and how you found it out..

16. Coming to a Conclusion I’m going to draw my conclusion now:
My hypothesis said that I thought bread mold would grow best in warmer temperatures. I was wrong. I found out that bread mold doesn’t like to grow where it too hot or too cold. It grows best at room temperatures.
I know this from my data. It showed no growth on the bread in the freezer, a little on the one on the heater vent an a lot of growth on the counter. I figured out that the data was telling me that bread mold grows best at room temperature.

17. Making More Predictions
When you have finished with your experiment, try another.
There are only a few ways to learn about the world around you and experiencing it with your senses is one of them.
Good luck on your future experiments!

18. Questions about Chapter 1
Why do we need observations to work with Science?
What do you need to do after you make an observation?
What is a hypothesis?
When do you need to record data?
What do you use to reach a conclusion?