Review for Scientific Method Quiz

Know the difference between a qualitative and quantitative observation.

A qualitative observation describes something using words

A quantitative observation is a numerical measurement

Know why it is important to have a control group in an experiment.

Control groups give us something to compare our experimental data with to see if

there was a difference when we changed the independent variable

Given a hypothesis, be able to identify what the control and experimental groups should be.

Identify the independent variable. The experimental group usually has more of that and the control group less or none of that thing.

Be able to identify the independent and dependent variables in an experiment.

The independent variable is what is being tested or changed in the experiment.

The dependent variable is what is being measured during the experiment. The dependent variable DEPENDS on the independent variable.

Know the steps of the scientific method.

  1. From observations a question or problem is developed.(P-problem)
  2. A theory or idea is developed from which a hypothesis is written.(H-hypothesis)
  3. A controlled experiment is written.(E-experiment)
  4. The experiment is performed and observations and made during the experiment

(data is collected).(O-observations/data)

  1. The data is analyzed and a conclusion is formed about the hypothesis. (C-conclusion)

PHEOC is one way to remember these steps

Understand what a constant variable is and why it is important to control them.

Constant variables are anything except the independent variable that might affect the

results of the experiment. They need to be controlled because otherwise they can

cause you to mistakenly think that your results were due to the independent variable when in fact they were caused by the constant variables that you didn’t control for.

Know how to write a hypothesis

These should be written in if/then form. A hypothesis should be a clear statement about what you think is going to happen in your experiment. There should be a cause-effect relationship evident in the hypothesis.

Example: If children eat breakfast, they will perform better in school.

Know why you need to perform your experiment more than once.

It is important because if you only do it once, you can’t be sure if the results were due to chance.