Scientific Method Notes

Question/Problem The first step in the scientific method which tells the audience what you are trying to solve. The question needs to be specific to your project, lab or experiment.

Purpose Allows audience to know the reason you are doing this project. Usually only one sentence that is straight to the point. The purpose needs to be stated –To determine…

Hypothesis The hypothesis is the educated guess as to what YOU THINK will happen during your experiment. Since this is a guess it does NOT need to be correct. Do NOT change your hypothesis to make it fit your results. Must be worded –If…then…

Procedure Explains to the audience how the experiment was completed. MUST BE SPECIFIC!!! A detailed materials list must be present before the procedure is stated. **Another person should be able to read your procedure and complete your project exactly the way you did. Think of a recipe for cooking.

Variable (Experimental Group) Independent variable- what is being tested in your experiment. This is what is being changed. There should only be one independent variable. (x-axis) Dependent variable- this is what you are measuring. (y-axis) HINT your dependent variable DEPENDS on your independent variable.

Constants/Controls Constants- all things kept the same in the experiment Control is what you compare your results too. This allows you to know how accurate the experiment is.

Results Written results in paragraph form. An explanation is given on the outcome of the experiment. Facts only, no opinions. Data table- displays your results in a chart (date table) form. Graphs- another visual for the results. Bar or line graph only.

Conclusion Must always include: –Prove or disprove hypothesis –Explain why that was possible (may offer opinions) –Future plans- how would you expand on this project in the future.

Sample Title: Musical plants Problem: Will classical music make the carrot plant grow the tallest? Purpose: To determine if the carrot plant will grow taller when exposed to classical music. Hypothesis: If I expose10 carrot plants to classical music for 20 minutes each day, then they will grow on average 15cm taller than the plants without music exposure.

Materials: 20 carrot plants (all 5 cm tall) A CD player A CD of Mozart music 2 artificial grow lights.

Procedure: 1. Place 10 carrot plants in one room set up with the grow lights and play music for 20 minutes a day for 30 days. 2.Measure and record the height of the plants every other day. Repeat steps one and two with the plants not exposed to music.

Results: The plants exposed to music grew on average 3 cm more every other day verses the plants not exposed to music. Plants 8 and 9 of the nonmusical set didn’t grow at all. Plant 2 on the musical set grew the most at 32 cm. **You would then make a graph and data table displaying all plant growth.

Independent variable- music Dependent variable- plant growth Constants- amount of soil in plants, size when started, amount of light received, amount of water received. Control- plants not exposed to music.

Conclusion- –I proved my hypothesis correct. The plants exposed to music did grow on average higher than the plants that were not exposed to music. I think this happened because the vibrations in the air provided stimulation to root growth. In the future I would test tomato plants instead of carrot plants.