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The Scientific Method Scientists use a systematic orderly approach to problem solving called the scientific method. The scientific method is a basic way to solve problems and search for an answer in a systematic way. A scientific question is one that can be answered by gathering evidence and experimentation.

Steps to the Scientific Method Pose a question Research your question Develop your hypothesis Design an experiment to test your hypothesis Collect your data Analyze and Organize your data Make your conclusions

Conducting An Investigation Scientists are like detectives, piecing together clues to learn about a process or event. Experiments begin by asking a scientific question – one that can be answered by gathering evidence and experimentation. Then you must research your problem using any kind of reference material – the computer, books, knowledgeable people, etc.

Designing your Experiment Any experiment should have 2 parts; the control group and the experimental group. The control group does NOT contain the manipulated variable and the experimental group does. In a well designed experiment, you need to keep all variables the same except for 1 (the manipulated variable). A variable is any factor that can change in an experiment.

Variables There can only be 1 manipulated variable in any experiment! The one variable can be thought of as having 2 parts to it. The manipulated and responding variables. The manipulated variable is the factor that YOU (the scientist) change. “If I change this one thing…” The responding variable is what you measure or observe to obtain your results – the data. “Then this will happen.”

Data and Conclusions The observations and measurements you make in an experiment are called data. At the end of the experiment you analyze your data and look for trends. Organize data into a table or graph. A conclusion is a statement that sums up what you have learned from an experiment. In a conclusion you look at your data and decide if it supports your hypothesis or not. Conclusions may lead you to pose new questions and plan new experiments to test them.

Measuring Length The basic unit of length in the metric system is the meter (m). There are 100 centimeters (cm) in a meter. There are 1000 millimeters (mm) in a meter. Never use fractions when measuring length in the metric system – use decimals. Each line between centimeters is equal to a millimeter or 0.1 cm. Start at the zero point on your ruler which may not be the exact end of the ruler.

Make an Observation and Inference about each of the scenes pictured here.