Transcript Inquiry and the Scientific Method


learning by asking questions

scientific research and evidence must
 objective
 describe only what actually happened as exactly as
possible
 reported without bias or opinion
 reliable
 could your experiment be repeated by someone else
 valid
 did you really test for what you thought you did
 communicated clearly with no room for
misunderstanding
 when referring to other people’s work, cite the source
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
 Law

 tells us what will happen
 does not try to explain or say why

Theory
 often an attempt to explain a law
 explains how or why something occurs and is
verified by known facts
 theories do not turn into laws
 may need to be changed due to new observations
title
 question
 hypothesis
 materials


No need to take notes on
this. We will DO this in
labs, not simply talk
about it.
procedure
variables and controls
 data collection
 data presentation/processing/graphs
 conclusion/analysis
 evaluation/discussion


Mr. Jansen tells you that a bike with larger 29 inch wheels might be
“faster” than a normal mountain bike with 26 inch wheels. Therefore, he
puts on his iPod Shuffle, cranks up Aerosmith, and rides his trail five
times with the 29 inch wheeled bike and then five times with his 26 inch
wheeled bike. His times on the 29 inch bike were 3:22, 3:24, 3:21,
3:29, and 3:21 with an average of 3:24 (min. and sec.). The times on the
26 inch wheeled bike were 3:35, 3:39, 3:35, 3:40, and 3:31 with an
average of 3:36 (min. and sec.)
1. What could be a reasonable hypothesis for his experiment?
2. What is the dependent (responding) variable? Independent
(manipulated) variable?
3. What would be a good title for this experiment?
4. List three controls he should have.
5. What type of graph would be appropriate for this data? Why?
6. What conclusion can you make from the data?
7. What could be some improvements for this experiment if he
were do it again?

Science
 to learn about our natural world

Engineers
 people who use scientific knowledge
to create or improve inventions that
solve problems
Define the Problem
 Research and Explore

 cite sources
 brainstorm
Choose or Design the Best Solution
 Specify Criteria

 requirements to get the job done

Constraints
 things that limit or hinder
Example:
You decide you want to build your dock right
in front of a public park, and the waterway
has endangered salmon in it.
What are some of the constraints (other than
cost) that may affect your project?
Phrase it:
“__________________ would be a constraint.
This is a limitation on the project
because____________.”

Example
 “The car passengers survived even though the car
crashed. The air bags and crumple-zone bumper
worked!”
 Trade-offs: something acceptable but not ideal
 “The car passengers are very bruised from the air bags
but they lived!”
 Unintended consequences: a situation you did not
anticipate resulting from your design/solution
 “Cars must be sent to the junk yard once all safety
features have been activated.”

Redesign to optimize next time