Name: Date: Period #: Scientific Method 1

Name: Date: Period #: Scientific Method 1

Aim: What is at the heart of science and how do scientists conduct research?

1)  What is science?

2)  What is at the “heart” of science?

3)  What is a scientist?

4)  Sir Alexander Flemming:

In 1928, Sir Alexander Flemming was studying Staphylococcus bacteria growing in culture dishes. He was looking for a chemical agent that could kill bacteria. One day, Flemming was cleaning up his lab area and throwing out old culture dishes. Before discarding these culture dishes, Flemming quickly examined them. He noticed that the bacteria were not growing in the culture dishes that were contaminated with a certain type of mold. A clear area existed around the mold indicating that the bacteria in this area had died. In the culture dishes without the mold, no clear areas were present. Flemming later identified this mold which was called Penicillium.

1)  List an important observation from this passage.

2)  What can we infer about the effects of Penicillium

from this passage?

5)  Important Scientific Terms:

a)  Observations –

b)  Evidence –

c)  Inference -

d)  Assumption –

e)  Opinion –

6)  How do scientists solve problems?

Identify the following as an: Opinion, Inference, Observation, or Assumption:

1)  Dr. Knudsen is the best science teacher in the world. ______

2)  It is sunny out today. ______

3)  Dr. Knudsen did not eat lunch today because he had a big breakfast. ______

4) After many careful observations, Isaac Newton claimed that objects fall to the ground due to the force of gravity. ______

5)  John has blue eyes. ______

6)  The Yankees have better uniforms than the Mets. ______

7)  A person is skinny because he runs a lot. ______

8)  Research indicates that cigarette smoking increases the risk for developing lung cancer. ______

List the steps of the scientific method: