Scientific Method Notes

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Scientific Method
Notes
What is your definition of the Scientific Method?
You only need to write down those things written
in YELLOW.
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The Scientific Method is

• An organized process to collect information and
  solve problems

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Ask a question

• 1A. Make an Observation
• Observation - What you see, smell, taste, feel or
  hear
• - Must be factual detailed.
• - Interpretation - Judgment on an observation

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1B. Identify the Problem

• What do you want to know?
• Why are you doing this?
• What is wrong?
• What are you trying to understand?

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1C. Research your Observations

• Collect information
• Find out what other people already know.
• Can you save some work and time?
• Has someone else done your experiment before?
• Can you stop from making the same mistakes
  someone else has already made?
• Dont forget to list your resources! (GOOGLE is
  NOT a source!)

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2. Form a Hypothesis

• A hypothesis is a testable statement.
• Often called an educated guess, it is a possible
  solution to your problem.
• It is OKAY if your experiment shows that your
  hypothesis is rejected.

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3. Design/Conduct an Experiment

• Your experiment must be testing the hypothesis.
• All of the parts of the experiment must be in the
  experimental design.
• The experimental design should be clear enough
  for other scientists to reproduce.

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• You may or may not conduct a controlled
  experiment
• Controlled- Everything is the same except for the
  independent variable.
• Not controlled- (without experimentation)
• Field research
• Human subjects if the control would be
  impractical or unethical

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• Parts of a controlled experiment
• Constants things that are the same in all of the
  groups
• Independent variable a change the experimenter
  controls
• Dependent variable changes the scientist
  measures during the experiment
• Experimental group group that receives the
  independent variable (change)
• Control group group that is the norm does
  NOT receive the independent variable

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4. Collect and Analyze Data

• What kinds of results do you need to record?
• Quantitative - number data
• ex. 23 cm, 6 g
• Qualitative - word data
• ex. red, smooth

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Analyze the Results

• How do you organize you results?
• - Look at the data. Does it make sense? Did you
  follow your procedure?
• - Organize it. Table? Graph? Paragraph?
• Do you see a pattern?

TIP Do you need to do any calculations?
Check your math.
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5. Draw (make) Conclusions

• A hypothesis is never proven.
• Does your data support or reject your
  hypothesis?
• Support the hypothesis is correct
• Reject the hypothesis is wrong
• If your hypothesis was rejected, make a new one
  and start over again.
• Did anything go wrong?
• Could your experiment be improved?

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6. Share Results

• Reports
•    Record all of the details of your
  experiment.
•    If any other scientist follows you
  experiment, they should get the same
  results.
• Include any new information that was found
  or discovered in your experiment.
• Include suggestions for improvement or areas
  where your experiment can be improved.
• _Consider bias. What are some examples of bias
  in a scientific study?