1. Science Focus Lesson SC.5.N.2.2 Practice of Science/ Replication
Elementary Science
Science Focus Lesson
SC.5.N.2.2
Practice of Science/ Replication
TEST ITEM SPECIFICATIONS:
Benchmark Clarifications
Students will identify and/or explain the need for replication of scientific investigations.
Students will explain the reason for differences in data across groups as a result of using different tools and/or procedures.
Students will identify and/or explain the need for repeated trials in a scientific investigation.
Content Limit
Items may use the terms accurate and/or valid in context but should not assess these terms or the difference between these terms.
Polk County Public Schools

2. SC.5.N.2.2
Benchmark:
Recognize and explain that when scientific investigations are carried out, the evidence produced by those investigations should be replicable by others.
Essential Question:
How can scientists support each other by replicating experiments others have done?
Vocabulary:
experiment evidence replicable valid
experiment: A scientific test or procedure that is carried out under controlled conditions to answer a scientific question.
replicable: duplicate, copy, reproduce, or repeat
evidence: proof
valid : accurate

3. Gathering Valid Evidence
Scientists seek answers by testing hypotheses
Hypotheses are tested and verified by collecting evidence through experimentation and observation
Evidence is a collection of data helpful in forming a conclusion or judgment
Evidence must be replicable in order to be considered valid and accurate
A hypothesis that is validated by evidence is considered to be correct
A hypothesis is a predicted answer to a scientific question

4. Replicable Evidence Evidence must be replicable in order to be valid
Replication means that trials must be repeated many times in order to establish a pattern which would help to answer a scientific question
Scientists conduct hundreds of trials in an experiment. Students conduct at least three trials when they do an experiment…but more trials is even better!
Trial
Hot
Cold 1
5 min
8 min 2
4 min
7 min 3 4
6 min 5
The reason for doing multiple trials is in order to establish a pattern in the data.
The more trials that are completed, the greater the validity of the established patterns.
Scientific questions can only be answered with data that follows replicable patterns.

5. Replicable Evidence Evidence must be replicable in order to be valid
Replication also means that other scientists can repeat the experiment and get the same results
Scientists must keep accurate journals so that others can know exactly how to repeat the experiment
Scientists must communicate with one another so that they know about one another’s experiments

6. Replicable Evidence can Validate a Hypothesis
Evidence is considered valid when…
many trials have been performed and a pattern has been established in the data
other scientists have conducted the same experiment and gotten the same results
Valid evidence helps scientists understand the answers to scientific questions

7. Summarizing
Explain to your shoulder partner the importance of evidence being replicable. Partner A will go first for 15 seconds. Partner B will summarize partner A’s answer. Then switch roles.
Review who is partner A or B with students. Have students engage in the summarization activity above.

8. Replicating Experiments
Trial
My Data
Your Data 1
820F
260C 2
850F
270C 3
880F 4
840F
280C 5
900F
300C
Scientists replicate experiments by communicating with other scientists and repeating the experiment in exactly the same way
Scientists must use the SAME UNIT OF MEASURE or they will not be able to compare their results
Different units of measure make it impossible to replicate the results
See how different the data looks when one scientist uses customary units and another uses metric units!

9. Replicating Experiments
Scientists replicate experiments by communicating with other scientists and repeating the experiment in exactly the same way
Scientists must use the same TOOLS when they replicate another experiment
Different tools make it impossible to replicate the results

10. Replicating Experiments
Scientists replicate experiments by communicating with other scientists and repeating the experiment in exactly the same way
It is important that the repeated experiment FOLLOW THE PROCEDURES exactly
Different procedures makes it impossible to replicate the results

11. Summarizing One Sentence Paraphrase
Write what you have learned about replicating evidence in one sentence!
Share your sentence with your shoulder partner.

12. Guided Instruction:
1. Gabriel is designing an experiment to see whether sugar or artificial sweetener will attract the greatest number of ants. Which statement best describes why Gabriel should write down his experimental procedure?
The exact experiment can be repeated by others and the results compared.
The experiment can be changed by others to get different results.
The data will help people decide what type of sweetener to use.
The data will show people which ants are more common.

13. A
The answer is
It is important to write very specific procedures so that others can replicate the experiment!

14. Guided Instruction:
2. Two scientists were conducting experiments. They each tested the same hypothesis. They made different observations and reached different conclusions. What will the scientists need to do to determine which conclusion is correct?
Write a new hypothesis.
Ask other scientists to do the same experiment.
Test other hypotheses.
Write two conclusions.

15. B
The answer is
Although the scientists tested the same hypothesis, they did not read one another’s experiments so they did not follow the same procedures
Now it is time for them to share their experiments so that others might be able to replicate their results

16. Guided Instruction:
3. Jamal is a research scientist. He works with other scientists to carry out experiments. They repeat experiments over and over again. They compare and contrast their work and results. Why do scientists compare and contrast the results of their work?
It helps them reach valid conclusions.
It helps them become friends.
It allows them to choose the best data to report.
It is more fun to work together.

17. A
The answer is
Scientists compare and contrast their results to see if their evidence was replicated by other scientists
Evidence that is replicated is considered to be valid and can help to answer scientific questions

18. Guided Instruction:
4. Zack and Josh did the same lab activity from their science book. When they compared their data, they found out that they got very different results. What should they do next?
throw out their data and copy someone else’s data
ask the teacher who is correct
review their experiments to see if they can tell what caused the difference.
use Josh’s data because he is a better student

19. C
The answer is
It is important to understand what differences caused the students to get different results
The boy should check their units of measure, the tools that they used, and other parts of their procedure such as time of day, etc.

20. Summarizing Rally Table:
Pass a piece of paper and a pencil around the table. Each student adds something that they know about replicating evidence.

21. Check Your Understanding
1. Three scientists in different counties have been trying to find a cure for a disease. Each scientist has been doing a different experiment. What would be the BEST way for these scientists to find a cure quickly?
publish their results to show that the other scientists are wrong
decide which scientist is doing the best experiment and repeat his experiment
continue working separately so they don’t mix up their experiments
communicate with each other to explain their work

22. Check Your Understanding
2. What would happen if a person did not write clear procedures and someone else tried to copy their experiment?
the results would be slightly different
the results would be the same
it would be easy to do the same experiment
there would be no way to replicate the experiment.

23. Check Your Understanding
3. Kaitlyn grew plants outside in different soils for her school science fair. She did her experiment three times. Each time, she recorded plant height daily and also wrote observations in an experiment log. The second time she did the experiment, her data was very different from the data in the other two experiments. Which of the following observations in Kaitlyn’s experiment log might explain the difference?
She watered her plants the same amount each day.
It rained for three days during the second experiment.
The plants were all grown on the patio behind her house.
She followed her procedure very carefully each time

24. Check Your Understanding
4. A famous scientist did an experiment and published his results. When a scientist in another country repeated the experiment he got very different results. What should the second scientist do?
tell everyone the first scientist was wrong
decide his results must be wrong
review both experiments to determine why the results were different
change his data to match the famous scientist’s data

25. Check Your Answers D B C
Scientists must communicate with one another so that they can replicate one another’s work and understand differences between their experiments
The experiment should be replicable by others.
A, C,and D were the same each time Kaitlyn did the experiment, the only difference in her trials was having rain during the second trial
Scientists must determine why there were differences in their results

26. Summarizing
Write a paragraph to summarize the essential question. Be sure to include a topic sentence and at least 3 supporting sentences.
How can scientists support
each other by replicating
experiments others have done?