Science Process Skills

General Safety Rules IF ANYTHING BREAKS OR SPILLS DURING A LAB- ALWAYS TELL THE TEACHER FIRST FOR DIRECTIONS!!!! 1. Listen to or read instructions carefully before attempting to do anything. 2. Wear safety goggles to protect your eyes from chemicals, heated materials, or things that might be able to shatter. 3. Notify your teacher if any spills or accidents occur.

General Safety Rules 4. Roll up loose sleeves. 5. Know the location of the fire extinguisher, fire blanket, eyewash station, and first aid kit. 6. Keep your work area uncluttered. Take to the lab station only what is necessary.

General Safety Rules 7. It is suggested that you wear glasses rather than contact lenses. 8. Never put anything into your mouth during a lab experiment. 9. Clean up your lab area at the conclusion of the laboratory period. 10. Never “horse around” or play practical jokes in the laboratory.

Glassware Safety 1. Chipped or cracked glassware should not be used. Show it to the teacher. 2.Broken glassware should not be disposed of in a classroom trashcan. 3. When pouring liquids into glassware, make sure the container you are pouring into is resting on a table at least a hands breadth from the edge.

Glassware Safety 4. If a piece of glassware gets broken, do not try to clean it up by yourself. Notify the teacher. 5. Do not place hot glassware in water. Rapid cooling may make it shatter.

Chemical Safety 1. Wear protective goggles whenever heating or pouring hazardous chemicals. 2. Never mix chemicals together unless you are told to do so (and then only in the manner specified). 3.Never taste any chemicals (you should never taste anything in the lab).

Chemical Safety 4. If you need to smell the odor of a chemical, waft the fumes toward your nose with one hand. Do not put your nose over the container and inhale the fumes.

Chemical Safety 5. Follow the instructions of your teacher when disposing of all chemicals. 6. Wash your hands after handling hazardous chemicals.

Heating Safety 1. Use tongs and/or protective gloves to handle hot objects. 2. Never reach across an open flame or burner.

Heating Safety 3. Always point the top ends of test tubes that are being heated away from people. 4. When heating a test tube, move it around slowly over the flame to distribute the heat evenly.

Heating Safety 5. Only glassware that is thoroughly dry should be heated. 6. Heat glassware by placing it on a wire gauze platform on a ringstand. Do not hold it in your hand.

General Science Symbols Challenge 1 L. LaRosa http://www.middleschoolscience.com for T. Trimpe 2008 http://sciencespot.net/

What does each Safety symbol stand for?

What does each Safety symbol stand for? Poison Explosive Corrosive Flammable Images from http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PUBS/NIOSH2007107.pdf

Scientific Method (Sr. Heads) State the Problem Identify the Question to be answered or a problem to be solved. What do you want to learn? Research Gather the information Find out as much about your topic as you can. Hypothesis Predict the answer to the problem. Based on observations that have been made. A hypothesis has to be something you can test by using an investigation. Experiment Design a test/procedure to confirm or disprove your hypothesis. A procedure tells you what materials to use, as well as how and in what order to use them. The experiment puts the process skills together in one activity. Analyze the data Record What happened during the experiment. Make a flow chart or different kinds of graphs. Look for patterns in data. Draw Conclusions Was your hypothesis correct? Do you have a logical answer to a question based on data and observations. Share the results/communicate it

Scientific Process Skills Observation Scientist observe items and events, then record what you see. Observations are made by: Using 5 senses , sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch to learn about an object or event, or to collect information about the object. Identifying-using charts, field guides, dichotomous keys, pictures Designing an Experiment involves using Scientific Instruments Microscopes Metric rulers Graduated cylinders Thermometers Balance scales

Communication Giving information by talking, writing, or using pictures, charts, flow charts, symbols, maps, diagrams, or graphs. Effective communication is precise and clear. Communication also includes defining operations. Operational definitions give scientists parameters to guide their work. A discovery that is not reported will not advance the scientific communities understanding or knowledge. Scientist communicate in many ways Writing articles in journals and magazines Announcing important discoveries on television and radio. To share ideas with colleagues on the Internet. Presentations or lectures

Scientific Process Skills Measurement Determining length, area, volume, mass, or temperature to describe and quantify objects. We seek questions to answer such as, “How much?” “How Far?” “How big?” or “What size?”. We measure with non-standard scales and the English and metric systems. International System, SI, provides standard measurements that all scientist around the world can understand. Metric System Developed in 1795 Adopted as international system of measurement in 1960. Convenient because unit sizes vary by multiples of ten. Prefixes are used to name units.

Length Liquid Weight Metric rulers Meters Volume Liters Graduated cylinders Weight Mass Grams Triple beam balance

Scientific Process Skills Predicting Making an educated guess based on prior knowledge. Stating possible outcomes or future events based on observations or experiences. We try to predict future observations by studying the present and the past.

Scientific Process Skills Inferring An inference is an attempt to explain, or interpret, observations. Making judgments or interpretations based on observations. We learn to recognize patterns in the world around us.

Variables Independent Variable/manipulated variable The one factor that you change in your experiment. Dependent Variable/Responding variable The factor that changes as a result of the independent variable. Controlling Variable/control The factor that you can control.