1. Scientific Inquiry Ch1: Lesson 3

2. What is Scientific Inquiry?
Scientific inquiry refers to the diverse (different) ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence they gather.
Pose a Question (“Ask a question”)
Develop a Hypothesis
Design an experiment
Collect and interpret data
Draw conclusions
Communicate

3. Posing Questions - Scientific inquiry often begins with a problem or a question about an observation
Hypothesis - one possible way to explain a set of observations. A hypothesis must be testable, scientist must be able to carry out investigations to test the hypothesis.

4. DO NOW:
Open up to your HW
Think about something you would like to test. In your notebook write a question and a hypothesis to go with it.

5. 3. Design an experiment
In order to test your hypothesis you have to design an experiment.
Variables - factors that can change in an experiment. There are 2 main types of variables
Manipulated Variable - the one variable that is purposely changed to test a hypothesis. (This is also called “independent variable” sometimes)
Responding Variable - the factor that may change in response to the manipulated variable. This is also called the “dependent variable” sometimes.

6. Think of the manipulated and responding variable as something similar to cause and effect: the manipulated variable is the cause and the responding variable is the effect.
Manipulated Variable: The variable that is changed by the scientist; the ‘I control’ variable
The MV (manipulated variable) is what you do!
Responding Variable: The variable that might change because of what the scientist changes – what is being measured
The RV (responding variable) is what happens.

7. I scared my brother, and he screamed.
LETS GIVE IT A TRY:
I scared my brother, and he screamed.
WHAT DID YOU DO?

8. I scared my brother, and he screamed.
So, what happened because of your action?

9. I scared my brother, and he screamed.

10. This is the manipulated variable
This is the manipulated variable. You controlled or manipulated what happened:
I scared my brother.

11. DO NOW:
TEXT PAGE 23 “DO THE MATH” #1,2,3 ON LOOSELEAF

12. Controlled Experiment: an experiment in which only one variable is manipulated at a time
4. Collect and Interpret Data
Data - the facts, figures and other evidence gathered through qualitative and quantitative observations.
After you collect data, it needs to be interpreted. One tool that can help you interpret data is a graph.

13. 5. Drawing Conclusions
A conclusion is a summary of what you have learned from an experiment. To draw conclusions you must examine your data objectively to see if they support or do not support your hypothesis
A conclusion is unreliable if it comes from an experiment with results that cannot be repeated.

14. 6. Communicating
Communicating is the sharing of ideas and results with others through writing and speaking. Scientists communicate by giving talks at scientific meetings, exchanging information on the Internet, or publishing articles in scientific journals.

15. Scientific Theories VS Scientific Laws
Scientific Theory - a well-tested explanation for a wide range of observations and experimental results.
Scientists accept a theory, only when it can explain the observations.
Theories are constantly being developed, revised or discarded as more information is collected.

16. Scientific Laws
Scientific Law - a statement that describes what scientists expect to happen every time under a particular set of conditions.
Unlike theory, a scientific law describes an observed pattern in nature without attempting to explain it.
Example: Law of gravity states that all objects in the universe attract each other.