The Scientific Method: A Way to Solve a Problem

Goal: 1) The student will be able to use the scientific method to complete a scientific investigation.

Objectives: The student will be able to list the steps of the scientific method in order. The student will be able to define the purpose of each step in the scientific method. The student will be able to conduct a pre-designed scientific investigation The student will be able to design and conduct a scientific investigation.

Steps of the Scientific Method ? Choose a problem. 7. Draw conclusions State the problem as a question 7. Draw conclusions Analyze your data and summarize your findings 2. Research your problem, Read, get advice, and make observations Steps of the Scientific Method 6. Organize your data. Create a chart or graph of your data 3. Develop a hypothesis. Make a predication about what will happen ? 5. Test your hypothesis. Conduct the experiment and record the data 4. Design an experiment. Plan how you will test your hypothesis

What is the Scientific Method? What do you think of when someone says the word "science" to you?  Do you think that science is test tubes, bunsen burners, laboratories, lab coats, chemicals, or microscopes?  Science might use some of these things, but that's not science.

What is the Scientific Method Science is a way of thinking about the world around us.  It's a way of finding out what we don't know by figuring out what we do know.   It's a way of getting answers to questions.  It's a way to solve a problem.  Some people call it a method: the scientific method.

Questions and answers     In the old days people got answers to their questions in several ways.  They asked an "expert".  Or they checked in a book.  Or they believed in magic.  Today we know that we don't need these.  What we need is a question and the curiosity to find an answer.

Scientist 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.

Questions and answers An observation is any use of the senses to gather information. To ask a question you must first make an observation. Ask a question about what you have observed.

After gathering information through research, the next step is to guess the reason why.  Now that you have a question about an interesting topic which you’ve researched, you can probably make a pretty good predication of what will happen in your experiment This educated guess is called a hypothesis

Hypothesis. Next, you (the scientist) will need to test the hypothesis.  A hypothesis is basically a guess, It is the answer to your question You need to think up an experiment that will prove or disprove hypothesis. 

Hypothesis.   Sometimes your hypothesis will be right and sometimes it will be wrong.  Either way is fine.  Did you know? Silly Putty was discovered because of a wrong hypothesis! 

Test the Hypothesis How do I test my answer? Basically, by doing an experiment. See if there is a way that you can test your answer. Maybe you have to grow a few plants for example.

Procedure A key to experiments is observing what happens and writing it down. Scientists write out a method (some people call this a procedure) like a recipe.  Materials needed are listed and the steps, like ingredients

Procedure Other scientists may want to do your experiment.  They need clear directions to follow. Once you have designed an experiment to test your hypothesis, you need to perform the experiment. 

Analyze the Results What did your experiment show? You need to record your data to keep track of what is happening in your experiment. This can be through charts, graphs, or data sheets.

Data Experiments are done to gather data. It is very important that you follow your procedure carefully, make good observations while performing the experiment, and keep accurate records.  Another part of the scientific method process is results.  Results are observations made after performing the experiment.

Draw Conclusions At the end of the investigation, you must draw a conclusion. Determine what the experiment has told you by looking at your collected data. You may have to reform your hypothesis, and retest your answer

Draw Conclusions Once you have looked at the data from the experiment, you can draw conclusions.  You can ask yourself questions such as, "What do the results tell me?  Was my hypothesis proven?"  These could be as simple as "yes" the hypothesis was correct, or "no" the hypothesis was incorrect. 

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.

If your hypothesis is proven to be incorrect, you will want to find out what was wrong.  You may even develop a hypothesis about the hypothesis!!

Communicate Results One of the most important step in any investigation is to communicate your results. You can write a scientific paper, make a presentation, or create a Web site.

You can apply the Scientific Method to most anything you do.  It is simply a way to solve a problem.

TIPS SO YOU DON’T FORGET Ask Fred To Act Dramatically Cool A- ask F- form a hypothesis T- test hypothesis A- analyze the results D- draw conclusions C- community

WHAT DOES THE SCIENTIST WANT TO KNOW QUESTION WHAT DOES THE SCIENTIST WANT TO KNOW RESEARCH GATHERING OF INFORMATION HYPOTHESIS AN EDUCATED GUESS OF AN ANSWER TO A QUESTION PROCEDURE/ METHOD WRITTEN AND CAREFULLY FOLLOWED STEP BY STEP EXPERIMENT DESIGNED TO TEST THE HYPOYHESIS DATA INFORMATION COLLECTED DURING THE EXPERIMENT OBSERVATION WRITTEN DESCRIPTIONS OF WHAT WAS NOTICED DURING THE EXPERIMENT CONCLUSION WHAT DOES THE SCIENTIST WANT TO KNOW