Intro to Scientific Method Biology CPA

Designing and Experiment  Scientific Method  Observation  Question  Form a hypothesis  Experiment  Data collection and analysis  Conclusion

Observation and Question  Begins with observing something in nature  2 types of observation  Qualitative – using senses  Quantitative – measurement  Wondering how or what about it  Ex:  Observation: Owls capture prey in the dark  Question: How do owls detect prey in the dark?

Hypothesis  Possible answers for question in mind that you can test with an experiment  Educated guess of how something occurs  Can be more than one  Ex:  Owls hunt in the dark by vision  Owls hunt in the dark by hearing  Owls hunt in the dark by sensing body heat

Experiment  Design an experiment to test your hypothesis  Controlled experiment  Control group  What you compare data to  Experimental group  What you are testing for  Independent variable  What is being tested for (ex: presence or absence of light)  Dependent variable  How the experiment responds (ex: if the owl can catch its prey)

Collecting/Analyzing Data  Collecting Data  Usually quantitative data  Compare experimental results to controlled results  Analyzing Data  Compare results to other studies and refine hypothesis  Create charts, graphs, tables to show data

Conclusion  Either supports or rejects your original hypothesis  If it supports  Can move on to construct a theory with research  If it rejects  Refine and change hypothesis and create new experiment