Homework – Ch 15 Sect 1 - The Scientific Method
Before 1500, most scholars decided what was true or false in two ways: they read the Bible and they read Greek and Roman writers. During the Middle Ages, they believed that the writings of Aristotle were true. Only the Bible was a higher authority than this great Greek philosopher. The word science comes from a Latin word that means "to know:' As time-passed, science became a popular way to find truth.
What Is the Scientific Method?
During the 1500s and 1600s, a new way of learning about the natural world developed. Scientists based their new method, or way of doing something, on a few important steps. They called these steps the scientific method.
At the heart of the scientific method is the experiment. When scientists experiment, they carefully control a test. The test helps them discover truth for themselves. They no longer depend on authorities who say that something is true or false. Leonardo da Vinci wrote that science should be "born of experiment, the mother of certainty." In the 1500s, this idea was new.
What Are the Five Steps of the Scientific Method?
In the 1620s, Francis Bacon, an Englishman, worked out the five steps of the scientific method. First, a scientist picks a problem or question. Second, the scientist makes a guess about the answer. This is an educated guess. That is, the scientist bases the guess on what he or she already knows. We call such a guess a hypothesis. Third, the scientist does an experiment and carefully controls it. Fourth, the scientist observes what is happening during the experiment and makes notes. Fifth, the scientist draws a conclusion, or answer, from these notes. Then the scientist decides if the hypothesis was right.
Bacon's five steps still influence science today. Scientists still conduct experiments using these ideas.
Homework – Ch 15 SECTION 1 REVIEW
Choose the letter of the answer that correctly completes each sentence. Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.
1) Before the 1500s, scholars decided what was true or false by reading ______
a. the Bible c. ancient Roman writers
b. ancient Greek writers d. the Vedas
2) The name of the steps that scientists use to discover the truth is the ______.
a. experimentc. hypothesis
b. scientific method d. conclusion
3) At the heart of the scientific method is the ______.
a. experimentc. tool
b. Bibled. Aristotle's teaching
4) The ______is an educated guess in the scientific method.
a. experimentc. mathematics
b. hypothesisd. note
5) The scientific method has ______steps.
a. threec. five
b. fourd.six