Mr. Boucher

1 – What is science A – a methodology of thinking B – a way of researching the physical world C – a body of knowledge 2 – Only with all three together can we actually have true science

3 – Only studies the physical world, things that are testable and disprovable A – why do we want to disprove instead of prove? - keeps us honest - if you try to prove something, you probably will - if you can’t disprove something it’s worth looking into

B – rarely prove things in certain terms - uncertainty is fun C – can still make predictions about the outcomes of events - predictions can be useful

1 – Scientific method A – people think it’s complicated, but use it all the time – example of car

 The scientific method parts  1 – observation: noticing and describing things in a careful, orderly way.  B – Look at something everyone has seen, think something no-one has thought. Which leads to questions no-one has asked.  2 – Asking questions  A good observation is only worth it if it leads to good questions

 Don’t forget to use all your senses  You want as many senses and tools involved as possible.

 This stops you from making mistakes  Just because you see it doesn’t mean you can believe it

 2 – Asking questions  A good observation is only worth it if it leads to good questions Example: In the 17 th (1668) century there was a debate over what caused food to spoil.  Spontaneous Generation: living things, like maggots, could arise from nonliving substances.  Biogenesis: living things can only come from other living things.

 3 – hypothesizing & Inferences  A – Inference: logical interpretation of what was observed  B – Hypothesis: scientific explanation for observations that can be tested

 Experiments  1 – the fun part of science  2 – multiple parts to a proper (Controlled) experiment  A – variables: these are the things that change in an experiment. Anything that can be changed or different can be a variable  B – only test one variable at a time

 C – types of variables  - independent variable: the variable you deliberately change - can also be called manipulative variable  - Dependent variable: the change you observe. It is the response in the experiment to the independent variable

 3 – control group: a group in the experiment that is exposed to all the same conditions except for the independent variable  4 – usually have several sets of control groups and several experimental groups running at the same time

 5 – Data: the information gathered during experiments or research – must be gathered carefully  6 – two types  A – quantitative data: numbers gathered by counting or measuring  B – qualitative data: descriptive data involve characteristics

 7 – tools: any and all things used during experiments or research to either gain information or run the experiment  8 – sources of error: anything that could make the experiment not work or give results you weren’t expecting.  A – This can be one of the most important parts of your lab reports.

 9 – Conclusions: is the original hypothesis right or wrong? Do parts of it need to be revised? Etc.  A – Usually you need multiple experiments to draw solid conclusions about any one hypothesis  B – Often only portions of hypothesis are confirmed or reformed

 Ethics – is something right or wrong?  Ethics often dictates whether an experiment can be carried out or not.