SCIENCE SKILLS

The Fire Triangle

Fires need three components :

fuel, oxygen, and heat. Removing or

disrupting one of the points of the

fire triangle will prevent or extinguish

a fire.

Reducing the amount of fuel available to support a fire is

important. For most fires, it is not the flammable liquid that

is burning, but rather vapor from the liquid that mixes with

air and burns. Removing the liquid, however, will quickly

reduce the amount of vapor.

Smothering the fire will reduce the amount of oxygen and

extinguish the fire.

Fire Extinguisher Technique

P is for Pull

 

A is for Aim

 

S is for Squeeze

 

S is for Sweep

What are Science Skills? 

Science skills are used to gather, organize, and communicate information. They include:

1. Observing - Look at what’s going on

2. Researching - Check

to see what’s already

known

Therabbitin the

the hat.

What are Science Skills?

3. Measuring - Using a device to give measurable, repeatable data.

4. Inferring - “What do I understand from this so far?”

5. Classifying - Putting stuff into

groups by some characteristic

6. Organizing - Making logical

groups

7. Predicting - Tell/Think what will

happen next

8. Hypothesizing –

If …. Then….

9. Modeling - A slice of the real

world; not all of it

10. Analyzing - “What does this

mean?”

11. Communicating - Passing the information you found on to

others (report/table/graph, etc.)

Laboratory Instructions:

READ and FOLLOW DIRECTIONS!

93% of lab accidents happen because someone didn’t follow directions!

Mistakesand Errors

Why did we not get the results we

expected?

There are 2 reasons:

 

A MISTAKE:

can be fixed:

adding or other math operation wrong

not following directions

having a scale set to ounces (oz) rather

than grams (g)

electronic scale not zeroed before

weighing

misreading data

setting up a graph incorrectly

 A mistake can be fixed by going back and redoing the procedure correctly.

A MISTAKE is something that can be fixed:

adding or other math operation wrongnot following directionshaving a scale set to ounces (oz) rather than grams (g)electronic scale not zeroed before weighingmisreading datasetting up a graph incorrectly

 A mistake can be fixed by going back and redoing the procedure correctly. 

MISTAKES

EX: Mistake: Multiplied instead of divided/ wrote 1.54 instead of 1.45.

Mistakes can be corrected once they are pointed out (or by being careful the first time!) 

AN ERROR:

cannot be fixed, as it isn’t a mistake:

how fast you chew

saliva makeup

electronic scale off

ruler not accurately marked

timer running slow or fast 

An error can’t be fixed – you may not even be aware it’s happened or is even there!

ERROR

Every measurement has some error. This is different than a mistake. An error is the difference between the measured value and the actual or theoretically correct value. 

ERRORS

EX: Error: Inaccuracy of a

measuring device

Errors include inaccuracy of stopwatches, metersticks, etc., as well as human reaction time when timing. Any variable that cannot be completely controlled by the experimenter is open to error.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

CAN YOU IDENTIFY THE COMPONENTS?

2 Kinds of Variables

Independent Variable: something that is changed by the scientist.

It is what we choose. (time is a good

example).

It is what is tested.

2 Kinds of Variables

Dependent Variable: something that might be affected by the change in the independent variable.

It is what we measure.

It is the data that changes as the

independent variable changes.

It is the data collected during the

investigation

First Example

People of different ages were asked to

put a puzzle

together. They

were timed.

What was the independent variable?

Ages of the peoplePeople of different ages were chosen by the scientist. Ages varied.

What was the dependent variable?

The time it to put the puzzle together

The time was measured by the scientist

What was a control?

Same puzzleAll of the participants were tested with the same puzzle.It would not have been a fair test if some had an easy 30 piece puzzle and some had a harder 500 piece puzzle.

IDENTIFY THE VARIABLES & CONTROLS

IN THIS INVESTIGATION.

AN INVESTIGATION WAS DONE WITH A ELECTROMAGNET: A

BATTERY AND WIRE WRAPPED AROUND A NAIL. DIFFERENT SIZES OF NAILS WERE USED. THE NUMBER OF PAPER CLIPS THE ELECTROMAGNET COULD PICK UP WAS MEASURED.

What are the variables & controls in this investigation?

Independent Variable:

Different sizes of nails were chosen by the scientist.

Dependent Variable:

How many paper clips were

picked up. The number of

paper clips was measured.

Controls:

Same battery, wire, type of nailNone of these items were changed

HYPOTHESIS:IF THE TEMPERATURE OF WATER IS HIGHER, THE EGG WILL COOK

FASTER.

ONE MORE:

Independent variable:

temperature of water

Dependent variable:

time to cook an egg

Control: type of egg, the stove, the pot, the amount of water, type of water, temperature of the water

THE TEMPERATURE OF WATER WAS MEASURED AT DIFFERENT DEPTHS IN A POND.

LAST ONE:

Independent variable: depth of the

water

Dependent variable: temperature

Control: thermometer, same lake,

same time of day

Designing Investigations

The greater the amount of soap in a soap and water mixture, the bigger a soap bubble can be blown.

Design an investigation to test this hypothesis.

Identify the variables & controls

What exactly will be changed?

How will it be changed?

What exactly will be measured?

How will it be measured?

The farther a ball drops, the higher it will bounce.

Design an investigation to test this hypothesis.

Identify the variables & controls

What exactly will be changed?

How will it be changed?

What exactly will be measured?

How will it be measured?