Inquiry: The Scientific Method - Petal School District...grow taller because a famous gardener said...
Transcript of Inquiry: The Scientific Method - Petal School District...grow taller because a famous gardener said...
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.