The Scientific Method

What is the “scientific method”? …its the process scientists use to answer questions or solve problems.

What are the basic steps of the scientific method? 1)Observe & Question You see the sky is blue (observation) & ask “Why is the sky blue?” (question)

2) Research – ask experts, read books, search the internet, etc…

3) Hypothesis – an educated guess…it MUST be testable. Generally it is a single statement, sometimes worded as “if ___, then __”

4) Experiment – test the hypothesis This is a tricky step!! Everything must be done correctly.

Experiment continued There should be 2 different types of set ups! A) Control set up – does not have the independent variable. B) Experimental set up – includes the independent variable.

A little example… Ms. Hill wants to find out what type of light is best for growing plants. She has 4 different types of lights, yep, 4 DIFFERENT ones.

Independent vs. dependent variables Independent = the variable you are testing. You control the independent variable! Dependent = the variable you are measuring. The dependent variable changes DEPENDING on what the independent variable is!

What is the independent variable of Ms. Hill’s experiment? What will be the dependent variable of her experiment?

A little caution… An experiment should only have 1 independent variable (most of the time). There are errors in EVERYexperiment!

5) Collect & analyze data – put data into graphs, tables & charts.

6) Conclusion – determine if the hypothesis was valid or invalid. And maybe do more experiments with another hypothesis!