Inquiry: The Scientific

Method

The 6 “Steps”•*List the 6 steps of the

scientific method in the space provided on the right.

• Comes from OBSERVATIONS

• What do you want to find out?

Step 1: Question

Step 2: Research

• an “educated guess”• based on research from step 2!

Step 3: Hypothesis/Prediction

Hypothesis:Some students behave better in class if they know there will be a reward.

Prediction:If the school offers fun incentives, then students will behave better because they’ll want to receive a fun reward.

Step 3: Hypothesis

• must have clear procedures (steps)

• must be able to be duplicated by others

• Include a list of all materials used, AND specific instructions.

Step 4: Experiment/Collect Data

A. VARIABLES- “things” in a test that can change

An experiment always has:

• Ex: If I water some flowers twice as much as other flowers, then the ones watered more will grow taller because I know that plants need plenty of water to grow.

Question 2: What is the dependent variable?

Question 1: What is the independent variable?

Question 3: What are some control variables?

B. EXPERIMENTAL GROUP

An experiment always has:

Control Group

• Not all experiments have a control group

An experiment might have:

A good experiment:

Effect of sun on plant growth

cm

What’s missing??

Step 5: Analyze the Data

a. Valid hypothesis: hypothesis is supported “My hypothesis was valid because ….”

b. Invalid hypothesis: hypothesis is NOT supported

“My hypothesis was invalid because ….”(revise your hypothesis and try again!)

Step 6: Conclusion

A conclusion should:

Step 6: Conclusion

I wanted to test types of plant fertilizers. I thought that using Miracle-Gro® fertilizer makes plants grow taller because a famous gardener said so. I put 3 marigolds in a pot with Miracle-Gro® and 3 marigolds in a pot with Wal-Mart brand fertilizer. After 8 weeks of data collection, I found that there was no difference in plant height but that the plants with Miracle-Gro® have more flowers.

What is your hypothesis?

What is your prediction?Use: IF, THEN, BECAUSE

What is your independent variable?

What is your dependent variable (DV)?

What are your control variables?

Is your hypothesis valid or invalid? Why?

TEST Thursday,

August 24th.