THE NATURE OF SCIENCE The Method of Science

THE NATURE OF SCIENCE

The Method of Science Nitty Gritty Science, LLC © 2015

Science – process that uses observation and investigation to gain knowledge about events in nature Nitty Gritty Science, LLC © 2015

Scientific Method An organized set of investigation procedures used by scientists Nitty Gritty Science, LLC © 2015

Hypothesis – educated guess or testable prediction Experiment – organized procedure for testing hypothesis Control – standard for comparison Constant – factor that doesn’t vary in experiment Independent variable – factor that is adjusted by the experimenter (x-axis) Dependent variable – factor whose value depends on the independent variable (y-axis) Nitty Gritty Science, LLC © 2015

Scientific Law vs. Scientific Theory Rule of nature that sums up related observations to describe a pattern in nature Explanation based on experiments – most logical explanation Ex. Law of Gravity Ex. Black Hole Theory Nitty Gritty Science, LLC © 2015

STANDARDS OF MEASUREMENT Nitty Gritty Science, LLC © 2015

International System of Units (SI) Standard system of measurement used worldwide SI Base Units Quantity Measured Unit Length meter Mass gram Time second Electric current ampere Temperature kelvin Amt of Substance mole Intensity of light candela Nitty Gritty Science, LLC © 2015 Symbol m g s A K mol cd

Common SI Prefixes Prefix Symbol Multiplying Factor kilo k 1. 000 deci d 0. 1 centi c 0. 01 milli m 0. 001 micro μ 0. 000 001 nano n 0. 000 001 Length – Distance between two points Volume – The amount of space occupied by an object Mass – Amount of matter in an object Density – Mass per unit volume of a material Time – Interval between two occurring events Nitty Gritty Science, LLC © 2015

GRAPHING Nitty Gritty Science, LLC © 2015

Graph A visual display of information or data. Nitty Gritty Science, LLC © 2015

Line Graph Show trends or how the data changes over time Nitty Gritty Science, LLC © 2015

Bar Graph Useful for comparing information collected by counting Nitty Gritty Science, LLC © 2015

Circle Graph (pie chart) Used to show a fixed quantity is broken down into parts Nitty Gritty Science, LLC © 2015