Science Question of the Day Do you think you will like Science

class? Why or why not?

Scientific Method

A blueprint for

experiment success

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

Science Question of the Day What are you looking forward to this

year in Science?

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]

Example: “If I put a spider on Ms. Dilsaver’s desk, then she will scream.”

True story…

Step Three: Experiment Test your hypothesis. Is it accepted (right) or rejected (wrong) ? In order for results to be valid, conduct several tests.

Let’s change the objects! Many times when we experiment, we like to change the objects

we are using. What was our original question?

What was our hypothesis?

Think back to our book and paper. What could we change about our objects to see if they will change in speed?

What is your new hypothesis?

Let’s change the objects! Each group will come up with two changes in

objects and see if it affects the speed of each object

Record your results! Let’s experiment!

Science Question of the Day Do you think Science is an important

subject? Why or why not?

Step Four: Make Observations When making observations, we have to

use all of our senses to discover new things.

Let’s try an experiment…– Each table will have something to observe– Each table will test it with a different sense– Let’s put our observations together and

see if we can determine what it is we observed

The Five Senses What did it smell like?

What did it taste like?

What did it feel like?

What did it sound like?

What did it look like?

What are some others ways we can test this object?

Making Observations

Think about our drop experiment again. What do you know about the objects in

our experiment? How can you describe these objects

using your five senses? Are all of these observations important

to the hypothesis?

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 information and record

what happened in those tests. This may look complicated now, but we

will go through it together.

Science Question of the Day

What careers are you interested in that use Science?

Step Five: Analyze Data You will always conduct your

experiment more than once. Many times you will change your

objects being tested during a lab. You must 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 (correct), right) or rejected (wrong, invalid).

If hypothesis is rejected, give possible reasons for the difference between your hypothesis and the actual results.

Why did it turn out the way it did?

Blast Off! You are now ready to perform your own

experiment using the scientific method! Each group will be given a problem

(Step One), and you must design your own experiment to use the scientific method.

Good luck scientists!