Science Question of the Day Do you think you like Science class? Why or why not?
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Transcript of Science Question of the Day Do you think you like Science class? Why or why not?
Let’s make an experiment! Take a look at these two objects. If I
were to drop them, which do you think would land first? Why?
How can we determine the answer to our question?
Let’s come up with a plan!
Our Plan Step One: Identify the Problem/Ask a Question
Step Two: Make a Guess (hypothesis)
Step Three: Perform Experiment
Step Four: Make Observations
Step Five: Analyze Data
Step Six: Draw Conclusions
What is the scientific method? It is a simple method scientists use to conduct an
investigation. It is a way to ask & answer scientific questions by
asking questions & conducting experiments.
Step One: Problem/Question Ask a question about something
observed.– Why?– How?– What?
Question to be solved. Think of what you already know about
the problem.
Step Two: Hypothesis Educated guess about how things work. Prediction Use If, then statements
– If ____ [I do this], then _____ [this will happen]
Focus on one variable only. What’s a variable??? What are some variables we could change
about our drop experiment?
Step Three: Experiment Test your hypothesis. Is it accepted (right) or rejected (wrong) ? Change only one variable at a time. Use a control group (A group that has nothing
done to it. Standard used for comparison in an experiment.)
For example, we could open the book when we drop it to see if it changes the speed. Then, we would test it against a closed book to see if it makes a difference. This is the control group.
In order for results to be valid, conduct several tests.
Let’s change the variable! Think back to our rock and book. What
could we change about our objects to see if they will change in speed?
Each group will come up with two changes in variables and see if it effects the speed of the objects.
Let’s experiment!
Step Four: Make Observations When making observations, we can
make two kinds: Quantitative and Qualitative.
Quantitative has to do with numerical data and values (height, weight, speed, velocity, volume, mass, etc).
Qualitative has to do with immeasurable observations (type of soil, kind of environment, thoughts and feelings, etc.).
Qualitative vs. Quantitative Data
Think about our drop experiment again. What do you know about the objects in
our experiment? Which of those are quantitative
observations? Which are qualitative?
Record Observations When making observations, it is important to write
down what you see, hear, smell, feel, and taste (when appropriate) during an experiment.
You can use this information later to analyze your data and draw conclusions.
Graphs, tables, charts, and other graphics are a great way to organize your information.
Record Observations Let’s record our observations from the
drop experiment. Take a look at your tables. We will fill in our variables and record
what happened in those tests. This may look complicated now, but we
will go through it together.
Step Five: Analyze Data You will always conduct your
experiment more than once. Many times you will change your
variables (things you do to the items in your experiment) during a lab.
You must use various methods to analyze your results and determine why the experiment turned out the way it did.
Yes, we will use math!
Step Six: Draw Conclusions Summary of your experiment. After your experiment, analyze your data to
see if your hypothesis was accepted or rejected.
If hypothesis is rejected, give possible reasons for the difference between your hypothesis and the experimental results.
Why did it turn out the way it did?