1. Scientific Method A blueprint for experiment success.

2. What is the scientific method? It is a simple method scientists use to conduct an investigation. It is a way to ask & answer scientific questions by asking questions & conducting experiments.

3. I. Question/Problem Ask a question about something observed. –Why? –How? –What? Question to be solved. Must be about something measurable.

4. Preliminary Research Before a hypothesis can be made, background information is collected.

5. II. Hypothesis Educated guess about how things work. Prediction Use If, then statements –If ____ [I do this], then _____ [this will happen]

6. Tests your hypothesis. Focus on only changing one variable at a time (independent). Use a control group ( A group that has nothing done to it. Standard used for comparison in an experiment.) In order for results to be valid, conduct several trials and average the results. III. Experiment

7. Record your data in a data table. –Quantitative Data: Numerical data organized in rows and columns. Examples: 33 cm, 2.4 g –Qualitative Data: Observations that are not numerical. Examples: red color, bubbles, smoky smell

8. III. Experiment TrialVariable 1Variable 2Variable 3 1 2 3 4 5 AVERAGE Title: Describing the Data

9. IV. Data Analysis Analyze the data –Calculate the average (Mean) of quantitative data. Graph –Graph the data to look for trends & relationships.

10. V. Conclusion Summary of your experiment. After your experiment, analyze your data to see if your hypothesis was accepted or rejected. If hypothesis is rejected, give possible reasons for the difference between your hypothesis and the experimental results. –If rejected, construct a new hypothesis and test it.