Scientific Method Ms. Drake 2013-2014

Scientific Method The scientific method is a way to ask and answer scientific questions by making observations and doing experiments. The steps of the scientific method are to: Ask a Question Do Background Research Construct a Hypothesis Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion Communicate Your Results It is important for your experiment to be a fair test. A "fair test" occurs when you change only one factor (variable) and keep all other conditions the same.

Question Ask a Question: The scientific method starts when you ask a question about something that you observe: How, What, When, Who, Which, Why, or Where? In order for the scientific method to answer the question it must be about something that you can measure, preferably with a number. Some examples: How does ___ affect ___? What is the effect of ___ on ___? When I do ____, how does it affect ____?

Questions Some g00d examples: How does water purity affect surface tension? When is the best time to plant soy beans? How does arch curvature affect load carrying strength? How do different foundations stand up to earthquakes? How do yeast use different sugars?

Let’s Practice Patty Power Mr. Krabbs wants to make Bikini Bottoms a nicer place to live. He has created a new sauce that he thinks will reduce the production of body gas associated with eating crabby patties from the Krusty Krab. He recruits 100 customers with a history of gas problems. He has 50 of them (Group A) eat crabby patties with the new sauce. The other 50 (Group B) eat crabby patties with sauce that looks just like new sauce but is really just mixture of mayonnaise and food coloring. Both groups were told that they were getting the sauce that would reduce gas production. Two hours after eating the crabby patties, 30 customers in group A reported having fewer gas problems and 8 customers in group B reported having fewer gas problems.

Question How does _____ affect ______? How does the special sauce affect the production of body gas? What is the effect of _____ on ______? What is the effect of the special sauce on the production of body gas?

Let’s Practice Again Slimotosis Sponge Bob notices that his pal Gary is suffering from slimotosis, which occurs when the shell develops a nasty slime and gives off a horrible odor. His friend Patrick tells him that rubbing seaweed on the shell is the perfect cure, while Sandy says that drinking Dr. Kelp will be a better cure. Sponge Bob decides to test this cure by rubbing Gary with seaweed for 1 week and having him drink Dr. Kelp. After a week of treatment, the slime is gone and Gary’s shell smells better.

Question How does _____ affect ______? How does the treatment (rubbing seaweed on the shell and drinking Dr. Kelp) affect the slimotosis? What is the effect of _____ on ______? What is the effect of the treatment (rubbing seaweed on the shell and drinking Dr. Kelp) on slimotosis?

Variables Scientists use an experiment to search for cause and effect relationships in nature. They design an experiment so that changes to one item cause something else to vary in a predictable way. A variable is any factor, trait, or condition that can exist in differing amounts or types. An experiment usually has three kinds of variables: independent, dependent, and controlled. Independent Variable is the one that is changed by the scientist. To insure a fair test, a good experiment has only one independent variable. Dependent Variable is the one that is measured by the scientist; the one that responds to the variable the scientist is testing. Controlled Variables are quantities that a scientist wants to remain constant.

Let’s Practice Patty Power Mr. Krabbs wants to make Bikini Bottoms a nicer place to live. He has created a new sauce that he thinks will reduce the production of body gas associated with eating crabby patties from the Krusty Krab. He recruits 100 customers with a history of gas problems. He has 50 of them (Group A) eat crabby patties with the new sauce. The other 50 (Group B) eat crabby patties with sauce that looks just like new sauce but is really just mixture of mayonnaise and food coloring. Both groups were told that they were getting the sauce that would reduce gas production. Two hours after eating the crabby patties, 30 customers in group A reported having fewer gas problems and 8 customers in group B reported having fewer gas problems.

Variables What is the independent variable? Test condition is the new sauce What is the dependent variable? We are measuring the production of body gas What are the controlled variables? Same number of people in each group (50 customers) All customers each crabby patties

Let’s Practice Again Slimotosis Sponge Bob notices that his pal Gary is suffering from slimotosis, which occurs when the shell develops a nasty slime and gives off a horrible odor. His friend Patrick tells him that rubbing seaweed on the shell is the perfect cure, while Sandy says that drinking Dr. Kelp will be a better cure. Sponge Bob decides to test this cure by rubbing Gary with seaweed for 1 week and having him drink Dr. Kelp. After a week of treatment, the slime is gone and Gary’s shell smells better.

Variables What is the independent variable? The test condition is rubbing seaweed on Gary’s shell and drinking Dr. Kelp What is the dependent variable? We are measuring how much the Slimotosis is left after a week What are the controlled variables? Applying the treatment daily for one week Applying the same amount of treatment each day Applying the treatment at the same time each day

Hypothesis Construct a Hypothesis: A hypothesis is a prediction about how things work: "If _____[I do this] _____, then _____[this]_____ will happen." You must state your hypothesis in a way that you can easily measure, and of course, your hypothesis should be constructed in a way to help you answer your original question.

Let’s Practice Patty Power Mr. Krabbs wants to make Bikini Bottoms a nicer place to live. He has created a new sauce that he thinks will reduce the production of body gas associated with eating crabby patties from the Krusty Krab. He recruits 100 customers with a history of gas problems. He has 50 of them (Group A) eat crabby patties with the new sauce. The other 50 (Group B) eat crabby patties with sauce that looks just like new sauce but is really just mixture of mayonnaise and food coloring. Both groups were told that they were getting the sauce that would reduce gas production. Two hours after eating the crabby patties, 30 customers in group A reported having fewer gas problems and 8 customers in group B reported having fewer gas problems.

Hypothesis If _____[I do this] _____, then _____[this]_____ will happen. If customer eat crabby patties with the new sauce then they will have a smaller production of body gas.

Let’s Practice Again Slimotosis Sponge Bob notices that his pal Gary is suffering from slimotosis, which occurs when the shell develops a nasty slime and gives off a horrible odor. His friend Patrick tells him that rubbing seaweed on the shell is the perfect cure, while Sandy says that drinking Dr. Kelp will be a better cure. Sponge Bob decides to test this cure by rubbing Gary with seaweed for 1 week and having him drink Dr. Kelp. After a week of treatment, the slime is gone and Gary’s shell smells better.

Hypothesis If _____[I do this] _____, then _____[this]_____ will happen. If Gary rubs seaweed on his shell and drinks Dr. Kelp then his Slimotosis will go away.

List of Materials & Procedure Bulleted List of Materials is a list of all the materials you will use along with the quantities of each Numbered Procedure is a detailed list of the steps you took to complete your experiment- like a step-by-step recipe for your science experiment. A good procedure is so detailed and complete that it lets someone else duplicate your experiment exactly! Repeating a science experiment is an important step to verify that your results are consistent and not just an accident. For a typical experiment, you should plan to repeat it at least three times (more is better). If you are doing something like growing plants, then you should do the experiment on at least three plants in separate pots (that's the same as doing the experiment three times).

Let’s Practice Patty Power Mr. Krabbs wants to make Bikini Bottoms a nicer place to live. He has created a new sauce that he thinks will reduce the production of body gas associated with eating crabby patties from the Krusty Krab. He recruits 100 customers with a history of gas problems. He has 50 of them (Group A) eat crabby patties with the new sauce. The other 50 (Group B) eat crabby patties with sauce that looks just like new sauce but is really just mixture of mayonnaise and food coloring. Both groups were told that they were getting the sauce that would reduce gas production. Two hours after eating the crabby patties, 30 customers in group A reported having fewer gas problems and 8 customers in group B reported having fewer gas problems.

List of Materials 100 customers with a history of gas problems New sauce for 50 crabby patties 100 crabby patties from the Krusty Krab Fake sauce of mayonnaise and food coloring for 50 crabby patties Stop watch

Procedure Make 50 cabby patties with the special sauce. Make 50 crabby patties with the fake sauce- mixture of mayonnaise and food coloring. Give 50 customers the 50 crabby patties with special sauce (Group A) and 50 customers with 50 crabby patties with the fake sauce (Group B). After two hours survey customers to determine thier production of body gas associated with eating crabby patties

Let’s Practice Again Slimotosis Sponge Bob notices that his pal Gary is suffering from slimotosis, which occurs when the shell develops a nasty slime and gives off a horrible odor. His friend Patrick tells him that rubbing seaweed on the shell is the perfect cure, while Sandy says that drinking Dr. Kelp will be a better cure. Sponge Bob decides to test this cure by rubbing Gary with seaweed for 1 week and having him drink Dr. Kelp. After a week of treatment, the slime is gone and Gary’s shell smells better.

List of Materials Gary with Slimotosis Seaweed to rub on the shell each day for a week Dr. Kelp to drink each day for a week

Procedure Determine the amount of seaweed to rub on Gary’s shell. Determine the time of day that the treatment (rubbing seaweed on the shell and drinking Dr. Kelp) will be applied. After one week, evaluate how much Slimotosis is still on Gary’s shell.

Data Table Chart that holds your data It has columns and rows that are labeled and includes units of your measurements. It documents your repeated trials and an average of your data.

Sample Data Tables

Sample Data Tables

Let’s Practice Patty Power Mr. Krabbs wants to make Bikini Bottoms a nicer place to live. He has created a new sauce that he thinks will reduce the production of body gas associated with eating crabby patties from the Krusty Krab. He recruits 100 customers with a history of gas problems. He has 50 of them (Group A) eat crabby patties with the new sauce. The other 50 (Group B) eat crabby patties with sauce that looks just like new sauce but is really just mixture of mayonnaise and food coloring. Both groups were told that they were getting the sauce that would reduce gas production. Two hours after eating the crabby patties, 30 customers in group A reported having fewer gas problems and 8 customers in group B reported having fewer gas problems.

Data Table- Patty Power   Gas Production After 2 Hours Average Gas Production Test Condition Trial 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Special Sauce Fake Sauce

Let’s Practice Again Slimotosis Sponge Bob notices that his pal Gary is suffering from slimotosis, which occurs when the shell develops a nasty slime and gives off a horrible odor. His friend Patrick tells him that rubbing seaweed on the shell is the perfect cure, while Sandy says that drinking Dr. Kelp will be a better cure. Sponge Bob decides to test this cure by rubbing Gary with seaweed for 1 week and having him drink Dr. Kelp. After a week of treatment, the slime is gone and Gary’s shell smells better.

Data Table- Slimotosis Amount of Slimotosis Cured Day 1 2 4 5 6 7 10% 20% 50% 60% 80% 95%

Graph Types of graphs include bar graph, line graph, scatter plot, circle graph (pie chart), histograph, pictograph, and box and whiskers graph Often times multiple graphs are needed. One graph of all the data points and one graph of the average of the data points. All graphs need a title along with the axes labeled and a key.

Let’s Practice Patty Power Mr. Krabbs wants to make Bikini Bottoms a nicer place to live. He has created a new sauce that he thinks will reduce the production of body gas associated with eating crabby patties from the Krusty Krab. He recruits 100 customers with a history of gas problems. He has 50 of them (Group A) eat crabby patties with the new sauce. The other 50 (Group B) eat crabby patties with sauce that looks just like new sauce but is really just mixture of mayonnaise and food coloring. Both groups were told that they were getting the sauce that would reduce gas production. Two hours after eating the crabby patties, 30 customers in group A reported having fewer gas problems and 8 customers in group B reported having fewer gas problems.

Graph- Patty Power

Let’s Practice Again Slimotosis Sponge Bob notices that his pal Gary is suffering from slimotosis, which occurs when the shell develops a nasty slime and gives off a horrible odor. His friend Patrick tells him that rubbing seaweed on the shell is the perfect cure, while Sandy says that drinking Dr. Kelp will be a better cure. Sponge Bob decides to test this cure by rubbing Gary with seaweed for 1 week and having him drink Dr. Kelp. After a week of treatment, the slime is gone and Gary’s shell smells better.

Graph- Slimotosis

Conclusion Summary written in paragraph form describing how your results support or contradict your original hypothesis. State whether your results support or contradict your hypothesis. State the relationship between the independent and dependent variable. Summarize and evaluate your experimental procedure, making comments about its success and effectiveness. Suggest changes in the experimental procedure and/or possibilities for further study.

Refernces Science Buddies http://www.sciencebuddies.org/