Catalyst (5 minutes) *get out a new loose leaf sheet of paper to start your week’s catalyst! Have you ever conducted an experiment before? Have you ever seen an experiment being done? If so, describe what you did or saw. Name some of the steps that you know you have to do when you conduct an experiment. Pretend that you wanted to know whether a mouse liked cheese or peanut butter better. What kinds of things would you do to answer this question? PUT YOUR NEW CATALYST SHEET IN THE LEFT SIDE OF YOUR FOLDER!

YOUR SYLLABUS IS DUE TODAY! * Ms. McGuirk will accept late assignments! However, you will be marked off for every day it is late! So, of course it is always better to turn in your homework on time. But, late is better than a zero!

The Scientific Method A Way to Solve a Problem

What is the Scientific Method? It is the steps someone takes to identify a question, develop a hypothesis, design and carry out steps or procedures to test the hypothesis, and document observations and findings to share with someone else. In other words, it’s a way to solve a problem!

Scientists have to take the time to think logically when they are investigating a question or problem. They break things down into many steps that make sense.

7 Steps to the Scientific Method Most people agree that there are 5 to 8 main steps of the scientific method In this class, we will use the following 7 steps:

7 Steps 1) Choose a problem/ question 2) Research your problem/ make observations about your problem 3) Form a hypothesis 4) Write your procedure 4) Experiment to test the hypothesis 5) Record results/data of experiment 6) Communicate the conclusion

1) Choose a problem or question. Choose something that can be answered with an experiment. It should be something that interests us, or deals with our everyday lives!

Do PCA scholars prefer hot Cheetos or spicy Doritos?

OBSERVATION An observation is the act of gathering information based on the five senses.

I see a lot of scholars eating hot Cheetos at lunch everyday. What is the sense I am using for my observation here?

2) Research your question Sometimes, if our question is complex, we may need to gather more information by conducting some research. We can conduct research by making observations. Examples: Observe the world around you. Ask other people for advice! Look in books or use the internet to find more information!

3) Develop your hypothesis A hypothesis is a possible answer to your question. Some people call a hypothesis an educated guess.

After making my observations by asking scholars what kind of snack they liked and seeing what they ate at lunch, my hypothesis is that PCA scholars prefer hot Cheetos to spicy Doritos.

4) Write your procedure List of all of the materials you will need. List each thing you will do. Number each step in order. Write down everything you will do.

My Procedure Materials Procedure 20 PCA 6th graders 20 PCA 7th graders 40 cups of hot Cheetos (each cup the same size) 40 cups of spicy Doritos 40 cups of water (1) I will choose 20 PCA 6th graders and 20 PCA 7th graders at random (2) Each day for 5 days, I will test 4 6th graders and lunch and 4 7th graders until I test all 20. (3) Each scholar will be able to eat one cup of hot Cheetos & one cup of spicy Doritos (4) In between eating each cup, they will drink a cup of water (5) After they have eaten both cups, they will pick which one they enjoyed better.

5) Experiment to test the hypothesis! Get your materials, follow your procedures, and make observations. Write down your observations, this is called your data!

My Data: 14 6th graders preferred hot Cheetos 6 6th graders preferred spicy Doritos 9 7th graders preferred hot Cheetos 11 7th graders preferred spicy Doritos

6) Organize your data Write down as much data as you can about what you see during your experiment. Make tables, charts, or graphs using your data.

What do our PCA Scholars prefer: Hot Cheetos or Spicy Doritos?

7) State your conclusion In the conclusion, scientists answer the question that the experiment asked. Look at your data and decide what it tells you about your hypothesis. Summarize your data. Communicate your results with others.

My Conclusion Based on my results, 23 PCA scholars preferred hot Cheetos, while 17 PCA scholars preferred spicy Doritos. Therefore, it is my conclusion that PCA scholars prefer hot Cheetos to spicy Doritos. My hypothesis was correct!

Once a scientist completes an experiment, they often repeat it to see if they get the same findings and results. This is really what we call verification, or checking things out to make sure everything was valid and will happen again and again.