1. The “Nature of Science”

2. What is Science?
It is the never ending process to understand how the universe works through observable evidence as the basis of that understanding.

3. Observations vs. Inferences
An observation is data that you gather with your one or more of your senses.
i.e. the board is white, its smooth, and tastes funny, kinda like purple and green skittles mixed.
An inference is what you make from all of the data gathered.

7. Is there a universal “scientific method”?
No. Scientists don’t follow a rigid set of rules when pursuing new ideas.
Scientists approach and solve problems with imagination, creativity, prior knowledge and perseverance.
Why learn about it?
Provides an organized method for publishing experiment results for peer review.

8. “DR PERC” will help you remember the steps of the scientific method
Develop a problem
Research information
State a Prediction
Conduct Experiment
Record data
Reach a Conclusion

10. What is a Hypothesis?
A hypothesis has several definitions for our purpose we will call it a prediction of what we expect to see.
Written as an “If...then…” statement
Ex. IF you don’t study THEN you’ll get a bad grade on the test

11. What is Data? It is the information gathered during an experiment
Two main types of data
Quantitative: Numerical (the most powerful type of data)
Ex. The plant grew 5 inches
Qualitative: Descriptive
Ex. The plant is bigger than a pencil.

12. Vocabulary:
Control- Part of the experiment that is not being tested and used for comparison
Variable- Any part of an experiment that can change
Independent Variable- Part of the experiment that is manipulated
Dependent Variable- Part of the experiment that is affected by the change in the independent variable

13. How do you conduct an experiment?
List the materials you will need
Write down your procedures EXACTLY
Describe EVERY step of your experiment
Write down everything you do
Control your variables (you should only change one thing)
Make observations and record all results (data)

14. How do you state your conclusion?
Look at your data
Decide what your data tells you about your hypothesis
Was your hypothesis correct?
Decide how you might change your hypothesis based on your result
Think about what you might do to experiment further
Communicate your results with others