Topic: The Scientific Method Date: August 14, 2017

Essential Question: How can we use the scientific methodto solve a problem?

Questions:
What is a scientific method? / Thescientificmethodisa_systematic______approachtogatherknowledgetoanswerquestionsaboutthe worldwelivein.
StepsoftheScientificMethod:
  1. __Observation_____ - use your senses for these
Examples:
a.)It is a very sunny day
b.)The color of the sky in Kona is not as blue as the sky in Kauai
  1. ___Problem/Question______
3. Hypothesiswhichisatentative__answer______tothe question.Ahypothesismustbe___testable___.
FORMAT: If….then…..because
Ex. _If the fertilizer is applied to plants then plants will grow taller because fertilizer contains nutrients that plants need to grow.
2 types of Variable (present in a science inquiry/lab)
a.)Independent Variable- __What did I change?
Ex. __types of fertilizer (manure; Miracle gro)
b.)Dependent Variable – ____what do I observe?______
Ex. _height of plants, no. of fruits______
Control grouprespondsinapredictablewaytothe
experiment
 usedasabasisorstandardfor comparison.
  1. Experiment,includes__Materials____and___Procedures (step by step)
  1. Analysis and Discussion –
a.)Present or write all observations made. Gather all data.
2 Kinds of Data:
  1. Quantitative data - numbers
  1. Qualitative data –description (lots of bubbles; lots of smoke); change of color
b.)Prepare __chart______and ___graphs______or chart
c.)Discuss __trends___ and analyze why they occur
d.)_Explain___ any significant or important features or differences from expected results
e.)If data don’t make sense, point out what possible __errors____ might have occurred. Be __specific_____ and quantitative
  1. Conclusion mayleadto_new_____questions,__new______hypothesis, ornewexperiments.
All conclusions must be:
a.)Clearly stated- go back to your hypothesis and either __accept______or __refute (reject)__ it
b.)Supported by __evidence (data)____
Ex. Based on the data, the color with highest number is orange.
Based on the data, the fertilizer made the plants grow taller.
c.)Cite specific results and observations from the experiment and tie them to your conclusions
d.)Summarize __results____ for any disagreement between your observed results and the expected results
e.)__Suggest____ any practical way of improving the experiment
  • Aftermanyexperiments,scientistsmaysummarizeresultsina__Natural law (Law of gravity)______,whichisadescription ofhownaturebehaves.
  • Scientistsmayformulatea____theory____.
  • Atheoryexplains___why______naturebehavesthewaydescribedby the naturallaw.
  • Theoriescan______predict______resultsoffurtherexperiments.
  • Alawtellsus__what______happenedandatheorytellsus _____why______.