1. Mrs. Cobb 8th grade Science
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Mrs. Cobb 8th grade Science

2. Scientific Method
The series of steps that scientists use to answer questions and solve problems
not a rigid procedure. Scientists may use all or just some of the steps of the scientific method.
They may even repeat some of the steps.
The goal of the scientific method is to come up with reliable answers and solutions.
Make sure only one problem is being studied.

3. (What are you trying to figure out?)
State the Problem
(What are you trying to figure out?)
Be specific about what the question is
Ex.
How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie pop?

4. (Find information about your topic using as many sources as possible)
Background Research
(Find information about your topic using as many sources as possible)
Make observations about the situation
Make observations about the materials
Do research about the problem (library, internet, interviews)

5. Form a Hypothesis
(An educated guess)
Should be written as an “If… then…. because…” statement
Must be based on your research and observations
If I lick a tootsie pop _____ times, then I should reach the Tootsie center.

6. (Test your hypothesis)
Experimental Design
(Test your hypothesis)
Includes the following
Scientific Variables
Independent Variable- The factor that is changed by the scientist. There is only one per experiment.
Dependent Variable(s) - The factor that is measured by the scientist during the experiment. There can be more than one dependent variable per experiment.
Controlled Variable(s) - The factors that must not change during your experiment. There is usually more than one factor that needs to be controlled in an experiment.

7. Scientific Variables Review

8. Practice Independent Variables

9. Experimental Design cont’d
Materials- A list of what you need to conduct your experiment. Be specific!
Procedure- Explain how to do the experiment.
Write as a numbered list, not as a paragraph
Provide complete, step-by-step instructions. Be specific!
Do not use personal pronouns such as I, you, or we

10. (Record you data and review or analyze it)
Results
(Record you data and review or analyze it)
All data should be presented in a data table
Data should be graphed when appropriate with the correct type of graph
Be sure to title all data tables and graphs!
Don’t forget your T.A.I.L.S !

11. You can use a graphing computer program or graph paper
NO FREE HAND GRAPHS!!!!!!
Watch your T.A.I.L.S.
T- title (y-axis vs. X-axis) 2pts
A- Axes (draw both axes – x- axis is horizontal, y-axis is vertical pt
I -Intervals (the numbers you will use on each of your axes) 2pt
L- Labels (titles for your x- and y- axes including units of measurements) 4pts
S- Spacing(the spaces between each of the number on your axes has to be consistent) 1pt.

12. (Explain what happened and why)
Conclusion
(Explain what happened and why)
Restate the problem/question you were testing and your hypothesis
Explain the results of your experiment and state if your hypothesis was supported or not. Include data!
Explain the significance of your results. How does this affect people? What did you learn from completing this lab?
Explain what you would you do differently if you could do this experiment over again? Why would you choose to do this?

13. Tootsie Pop lab conclusion
The purpose of this lab is to reinforce the steps of the scientific method, using the “Tootsie pop lab”. Also, to determine how many licks it takes to get to the center of the tootsie pop. I predicted that it would take 365 lick to get to the tootsie center. My hypothesis was incorrect.
From my investigation I performed three trials and received different number of licks every time. For example trial 1 =234 licks, trial 2=567 licks and trial =102 licks. I drank water before each trial. This could have affected the results.
Data was collected from the group and graphed. The graph show a large difference in their numbers as well. This could be due to a number of things such as, different tongue sizes, the amount of saliva on each tongue etc. In future investigations I would like to control the tongue size, and drink no water between trials.
I conclude that the world may never know !