1. Science and the Scientific Method!
5th grade

2. What is Science?
knowledge about or study of the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observations which are tested through the scientific method

3. What is the Scientific Method?

4. What do you think the steps of the scientific method are?

5. 1st Step: Choose a Problem (Question or Problem)
What do you want to know?
State the problem as a question
Your question needs to start with words such as what, when, where, how or why.
Example: Why is the sky blue?

6. 2nd Step: Research your problem
What can you find out?
Gather information to help you better understand your problem or question
Use resources such as books and the Internet to help you find out information.
Read, get advice, make observations

7. 3rd Step: Make a Hypothesis
What do you predict?
Using your background knowledge and current knowledge, make an educated guess of what you think the solution is to your question or problem
Your hypothesis should be a simple statement that expresses what you think will happen
IF - THEN STATEMENTS
Ex: If I water my plant everyday, it will not die.

8. 4th Step: Do an Experiment
How are you going to test your hypothesis?
Create a step by step procedure and conduct an experiment that tests your hypothesis.
Follow the steps to perform the experiment
Repeat the experiment a number of times to ensure your original results weren’t an accident.

9. 5th Step: Observe and Record your data
What happened during your experiment?
Collect data and record the progress of your experiment.
Describe the observations you make during the experiment.
Record your results and create a graph or chart

10. 6th Step: Draw Conclusions
What did you find out?
Look at the data you collected and summarize your results in written form.
Use what you found out to answer your original question: is your hypothesis right or wrong based on the results of your experiment?