WRITE DOWN 5 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE FOLLOWING PICTURE.

WHAT IS SCIENCE? ReRemember the video we watched in class

Science is: Is a deeper understanding of the physical world or universe gained through observation and experimentation Questioning, Wondering, Observing, Comparing, Measuring, Art, Math, You, Me.

THINKING LIKE A SCIENTIST! THROUGH OBSERVATION AND LOGICAL REASONING, SCIENTISTS INVESTIGATE PROBLEMS AND LOOK FOR ANSWERS USING A STEP BY STEP METHOD.

SCIENTIFIC METHOD Asking a Question Make Observations/Inferences Writing A Hypothesis Conducting The Investigation or experiment Collecting and recording Data Analyzing data and organizing it into graphs Making Conclusions and Sharing Results

The Testable Question (Problem)‏ Before you start an experiment you must have a reason to do it. You need to have a question that can be answered through an investigation. This is called a “Testable Question.”

EXAMPLES OF THE TESTABLE QUESTION Does the amount of sunlight a plant gets affect how it grows? What gas mileage does my car get? Does caffeine affect reaction time in middle school students? Which disinfectant works the best on household germs?

THESE ARE NOT TESTABLE QUESTIONS Is Mr. Carter the best teacher of all time? Does water smell good? Is the cafeteria food good? Do I have a cool car? You cannot answer these questions with an experiment. Opinion questions are not testable.

VARIABLES Independent The variable that is being manipulated Dependent The variable that is being measured Constants The variables that are held the same Identify the variables in the following testable questions: What gas mileage does my car get? Does the amount of sunlight a plant gets affect how it grows? Does caffeine affect reaction time in middle school students? Which disinfectant works the best on household germs?

Observation: when studying something describe only facts that you can see, touch, taste, smell and hear. You are not making any guesses. THIS IS NOT AN OPINION!! Water Balloon Video: atch?v=j_OyHUqIIOU Ohh… This liquid is green and it is leaking from a brown can. I also smell it.

Inference: using your observations to make a guess about an object or an outcome THIS CAN BE A SCIENTIFIC OPINION Balloon Laser Video: om/watch?v=EzY30A h8bKY Based on my observations, I think that this can is old and is leaking a toxic substance.

GROUP PRACTICE Please Make some observations and inferences about the following pictures.

Let’s talk about the difference between Qualitative and Quantitative Observations

QUALITATIVE VS QUANTITATIVE Qualitative – physical characteristics (observations) described with words Quantitative – physical characteristics (observations) described with numbers

WRITING A HYPOTHESIS A hypothesis is a TESTABLE“educated guess”about the outcome of your experiment. In order to make this guess, you must rely on your background knowledge and the research which you conducted before you began planning the experiment.

A WELL WRITTEN HYPOTHESIS A well written hypothesis consists of an “if” statement and a “then” statement. The “if” statement contains information on what your are testing (independent variable), and the “then” statement reflects your beliefs of the outcome of the experiment (dependent variable).

EXAMPLES “If I track my mileage and gas consumed, then I can find my gas mileage for my car” “If caffeine is increased(independent) in someone’s body, then his or her reaction time will be quicker (dependent)”

WRITING A PROCEDURE A procedure is a list of steps that a scientist takes to complete the experiment. This is a very detailed list that is numbered in 1,2, order. It is not a paragraph! It may include drawings. You know you have written a good procedure when someone can read it and do the experiment exactly like you did.

EXAMPLE: GAS MILEAGE PROCEDURE 1.Drive car that you want to find mileage to a gas station 2.Fill tank to full. 3.Record current mileage on odometer OR reset “trip” odometer 4.Drive car to and from work. 5.Return to SAME gas pump. 6.Fill up gas tank. 7.Record gas amount needed to fill and total miles driven since last fill up 8.Divide miles driven by gas bought to get total miles per gallon. MILES ÷ GALLONS = Miles per gallon (mpg)

CONDUCTING THE INVESTIGATION The investigation must be a controlled experiment. You can only change (manipulate) one variable at a time. The control group is the group you do not change, so that you can use it for comparison.

HOW DO YOU RECORD DATA? All measurements in an investigation need to be recorded in a data table. What did you use to record your data? What kind of data is this? Sinking Time For Funnels (seconds)‏ Trial Number Avg. Number Of Washers

GRAPHING YOUR DATA TABLE In order to understand and interpret your data, you need to make a graph. A graph lets you see trends in the data and it also helps you look at the data in a way that is easy to understand. Remember your labels!!

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS In this step we analyse our data and graphs and decide if our hypothesis was correct or incorrect! We always restate our hypothesis in our conclusion. We discuss any trends we see and we attempt to explain why our hypothesis was correct or incorrect. This is always in paragraph form! Conclusion In conclusion, I can say that my hypothesis (if we add more washers to the funnel, then it will sink faster) was correct. The funnel did sink faster when I added more washers. My graph shows a decrease in sinking time so I have proved that this is true.

SHARING CONCLUSIONS To make our experiment complete we must share our findings with other people. This can be through discussion or a lab report printed for a magazine. Scientists love to read about other’s experiments! Sinking Water Clocks