The Scientific Method of Investigation. Communicate Results Scientific Question Hypothesis Procedure The Scientific Method Conclusions Results Experiment.
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The Scientific Method of
Investigation
Communicate Results
Scientific Question
Hypothesis
Procedure
The Scientific Method
Conclusions
Results
Experiment
Problem Solving at its BEST!
Scientists ask questions about things they want to know more
about.
PURPOSE: To solve a problem!
The Scientific Question/ProblemThe process starts with an
observation, a question or a problem.
What do you want to find out?
Sample Experiment
Scientific Question:
•Which gets hotter in the sun; water in a
black cup or water in a white cup?
Try it!Work together to
write a question that can be answered by experimenting.
Make sure there is a testable factor or independent variable!
A scientist changes ONE factor (independent
variable) and observes or measures what
happens (dependent variable) and keeps ALL
OTHER factors (controls) the same.
Controls and Variables
• INDEPENDENT variable - The factor that is changed: “ I change”
•DEPENDENT variable - The factor that is measured or observed: “It changes”
Variables
Ex. Who has a faster reaction time boys or girls?
IV: DV:
VARIABLE PRACTICE
Will Coke or Mountain Dew keep you awake longer at
night?
IV?DV?
Controls • The scientist makes a special effort to keep other factors constant so that they will not affect the outcome.
• Those factors are called CONTROLS Factors that stay
the SAME!
• This also ensures for a FAIR experiment!
Ex. Who has a faster reaction time boys or girls?
Controls:1. SAME start line2. SAME ruler3. SAME age4. SAME time of day5. SAME start method ETC!
CONTROL PRACTICE
Sample ExperimentControls and
Variables:Which gets hotter in the
sun; water in a black cup or water in a white cup?
• Name the IV and DV• Identify 3 controls
Hypothesis•A hypothesis is a guess about what might happen in an experiment based on research or background information.
• A hypothesis is just your educated
guess :
I think ___ because ____.
Try it! With your group, come up with a hypothesis for this scientific question: If I flip a coin ten times, how many times will the coin show “heads”?I think __________ because _____.
Now flip a coin ten times.Was your hypothesis correct?
Sample ExperimentHypothesis:
• I think the water in the black cup will get hotter because I know that when I wear a black t-
shirt in the summer my temperature increases.
Preparing to Experiment
1. Need to gather your materials
2. Design a procedure
Materials•All items to carry out your experiment are your materials.
•Be sure to list everything you use and the quantities (numbers) needed. Be very detailed!
Try it!List all of the materials that
you would use to make a peanut butter and jelly
sandwich.
Procedure•The procedure should list step
by step directions on how you did your experiment.
• It should be detailed enough so that someone could follow your procedure and get the same results.
12345
•Are the steps numbered?•Are the directions written as commands?•Did you write one direction per line?•Are measurements/amounts included?•Are the directions detailed and specific?•Do the directions follow an orderly progression?
How to Write Procedure
Try it!Write the procedure for how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Sample ExperimentMaterials:
• 1 (10 ml) black plastic cup• 1 (10 ml) white plastic cup• 20 ml of water• 2 thermometers
Sample Experiment Procedure:1.Fill each cup (black and white) with 10 ml of water at 10 *C.2.Place a thermometer in each cup.3.Place the two cups in a sunny location.4.Observe and record the temperature of the water in each cup every 30 minutes for three hours.
Results and Observations• Results are exactly what happens during your experiment/use your senses and your science vocabulary.
• Be specific and detailed in your explanation.
• Show your results on a graph, on a table, or explain it in words.
Try it!•Blast a pipette full of vinegar onto 5 grams of baking soda.
•Describe your results with scientific and sensory terms •How could you make a quantitative (number) graph?
Sample Experiment
Time 12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00
Temp 60 60 62 63 64 65 67
White Cup (All temperatures in degrees Celsius)
Black Cup
Time 12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00
Temp 60 62 65 67 69 71 74
Table of Results
Graph of Results
12:00 12:30 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:000
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
White Cup
Black Cup
time
temperature
Written ResultsAs I observed the temperature of the two
cups, I noticed that the temperatures started to differ by the end of the first half hour. The water in the black cup was 2 degrees celsius higher. (black= 62, white= 60) After an hour, the water in the white cup was 62, and the
black cup was 65. The water in the black cup continued to rise above the white cup. After 3 hours the water in the white cup was 67 degrees, while the water in the black cup
heated to 74 degrees celsius.
Conclusions•Conclusions are ideas that we have
or connections that we make after we finish an experiment.
1. Restate the question2. Answer the question with
trends in your data.3. Make a summary statement.
Sample Experiment
• The water in the black cup heated up faster than the water in the white cup. By experimenting, I found that the water in the black cup heated up faster by 10 degrees then the white cup and reached a higher temperature. Black is a color that absorbs the heat.
Conclusion:
Communicate Results
•Communication is an essential part of science.
•Scientists report their results in journals, on the internet, or at conferences.
Communicate Results •This allows their experiments to
be evaluated and repeated.
•Scientists can build on previous work of other scientists and maybe propose a theory.
•Do you know a science theory?
•Sometimes results are unexpected:
This is ok!
REPEAT THE EXPERIMENT
Communicate Results
I Hear and I ForgetI See and I RememberI Do and I Understand
- Chinese Proverb
Web Sites Used:http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/nceas.web/kids/scimethod.html
http://www.brainpop.com/science/scientificinquiry/scientificmethod/preview.weml
http://www.quia.com/jg/65726.html
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