Transcript Scientific Method PPT

The Scientific Method
The Survivor’s Dilemma
 Do Now: You are shipwrecked on a desert island with
no contact to anyone. You are thirsty, but surrounded
by salt-water. You remember the captain had said
that one of the containers on the ship contained
drinking water, but the other contained a toxic
substance. In the two beakers in front of the class are
those two indistinguishable liquids. One is safe to
drink (pure, clean water) and the other liquid is an
unknown and toxic substance. Answer the following
questions:
1. Make general observations about both the beaker on
the left, and the beaker on the right
2. What could you do to determine which liquid is safe
to drink?
3. Which one would you drink?
The Scientific Method
The Scientific Method
Scientific Method- A series of steps followed
to solve problems including collecting data,
formulating a hypothesis, testing the
hypothesis and stating conclusions
Steps to the Scientific Method may vary
Research often leads to new problems and new
hypothesis
Variable- a factor that changes in an
experiment in order to test a hypothesis
The Scientific Method
1. Formulate a question: What do you want to
know?
2. Form a hypothesis: Propose an answer to
your question based on observations,
research and data
3. Conduct an Experiment: Set up a controlled
experiment to test the validity to your
hypothesis
The Scientific Method cont.
4. Record and Analyze Results: Record
observations in journal or lab notebook and
study the outcome
5. Draw a conclusion: Did the results support
your hypothesis? If not, modify the
hypothesis based on observations
6. Test your conclusion: Every experiment must
be repeatable by any other scientist
Importance of a Controlled Experiment
Controlled Experiment- an experiment in
which only one variable is changed at a time
Control- a person, group, event, etc., that is
used as a constant and unchanging standard
of comparison in scientific experimentation.
Examples of Controls
If you want to know how speed affects gas
mileage, then speed is the only variable that
should change. The car, tires, road, wind speed
need to stay the same—be controlled. They
are control variables.
In Medicine, the placebo effect.
Bikini Bottom Experiments
1)Flower Power
SpongeBob Squarepants loves to garden and wants to
grow lots of pink flowers for his pal Sandy. He bought a
special Flower Power fertilizer to see if it will help plants
produce more flowers. He plants two plants of the same size
in separate containers with the same amount of potting soil.
He places one plant in a sunny window and waters it every
day with fertilized water. He places the other plant on a shelf
in a closet and waters it with plain water every other day
What did SpongeBob do wrong in this experiment? Explain?