Think Like a Scientist The Scientific Method OBSERVATION
Think Like a Scientist! The Scientific Method
OBSERVATION n When you use one or more of your five senses to gather information about the world n Observations are called DATA
What are some examples? n Hearing n Seeing a Cow Mooooo a Dog bury a bone n Smelling Choc. Chip cookies
Quantitative vs. Qualitative n Quantitative Observations: Observations that use Numbers For example: Measurements or counting n Qualitative Observations: Observations that use descriptions For example: How an animal reacts to an event
INFERENCE n When you interpret an observation n For example: When you hear a dog barking…. you may infer that someone is at the door! When you see a sea lion yawning… you may infer that he is tired!
What is a possible Inference?
What do you OBSERVE? What can you INFER?
PREDICTION n Making an inference about a future event n For example: If Mrs. Brennan eats 12 Chocolate Chip Cookies… I predict that she is going to feel sick!
Who do you predict will win? Why?
Now, Your Thinking like a Scientist! LETS SUMMARIZE! In pairs, person A tells person B what we just learned for 45 seconds…Next, person B fills in the gaps or repeats the main points!
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD n The process, or steps scientists use to gather information and answer questions! n Scientists identify questions to ask by observing the world around them!
1. Ask a Question or State a Problem Asking WHAT? or HOW? to something you observed Can you think of an example?
2. Research your Topic Gather information that will help you answer your question. Library, Internet, Interviews, Experiments, Discussions, Prior Experiences, Etc.
3. State your HYPOTHESIS A Hypothesis is an explanation for a question that can be formally tested. a. k. a: an educated guess! If…then… For example?
4. Design an Experiment A procedure designed to test your Hypothesis… Testing whether it is true or false. Must be repeatable, and easy to understand
In a well designed Experiment, you need to keep all variables the same except one. Manipulated (independent) Variable: The factor that is changed in an experiment…it is what you are testing! n Responding (dependent) Variable: The result or response to what you changed…it is usually what your are collecting data of. n
Controlled Variable(s): The factor(s) that remains the same! n Irrelevant Variable(s) The factor(s) that have no effect on the outcome so they can be ignored. n Controlled Experiment: An experiment where all factors except one are kept the same; all of these factors are called the “controlled variables” n
For example: Question: Which freezes faster…fresh water or salt water? n Hypothesis: IF I add salt to fresh water, THEN the salt water will take longer to freeze n Experiment: MV/IV: the salt that is added to the water RV/DV: the time it takes to freeze Controlled Variables: All factors, or other potential variables are kept the same, such as start temperature and amount of water n
5. Conduct your Experiment Perform your experiment by following your written procedure. Be sure to follow all safety rules!
6. Collect Data The observations and measurements you make in an experiment are called Data.
7. Analyze Data Did your experiment support your hypothesis? What happened during your experiment? Does additional research need to be conducted?
8. Conclusion Does your data and observations support your Hypothesis? “My hypothesis was _______ because _____”
9. Communication Share your results and data with others. Sources: written, spoken, video, TV, papers, lecture. . .
10. New Problem n Form a new question or state a New Problem on the same topic. n What more can you learn? What do you still want to know?
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