SCIENTIFIC METHOD

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What is the Scientific Method? (Video)

Reading passage and practice quiz

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Steps of the Scientific Method

1. Ask a Question

The scientific method starts when you ask a question about something that you

observe: How, What, When, Who, Which, Why, or Where?

For a science fair project some teachers require that the question be something

you can measure, preferably with a number.

For detailed help with this step, use these resources:

• Your Question

• Laboratory Notebook

2. Do Background Research

Rather than starting from scratch in putting together a plan for answering your

question, you want to be a savvy scientist using library and Internet research to

help you find the best way to do things and ensure that you don't repeat mistakes from the past.

For detailed help with this step, use these resources:

• Background Research Plan

• Finding Information

• How to Write a Bibliography in APA and MLA styles With Examples

• Research Paper

3. Construct a Hypothesis

A hypothesis is an educated guess about how things work. It is an attempt to answer your question with an explanation that can be tested. A good hypothesis allows you to then make a prediction:
"If _____[I do this] _____, then _____[this]_____ will happen."

State both your hypothesis and the resulting prediction you will be testing. Predictions must be easy to measure.

For detailed help with this step, use these resources:

• Variables

• Variables for Beginners

• Writing a Hypothesis for Your Science Fair Project

4. Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment

Your experiment tests whether your prediction is accurate and thus your hypothesis is supported or not. It is important for your experiment to be a fair test. You conduct a fair test by making sure that you change only one factor at a time while keeping all other conditions the same.

You should also repeat your experiments several times to make sure that the first results weren't just an accident.

For detailed help with this step, use these resources:

• Experimental Procedure

• Materials List

• Conducting an Experiment

5. Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion

Once your experiment is complete, you collect your measurements and analyze them to see if they support your hypothesis or not.

Scientists often find that their predictions were not accurate and their hypothesis was not supported, and in such cases they will communicate the results of their experiment and then go back and construct a new hypothesis and prediction based on the information they learned during their experiment. This starts much of the process of the scientific method over again. Even if they find that their hypothesis was supported, they may want to test it again in a new way.

For detailed help with this step, use these resources:

• Data Analysis & Graphs

• Conclusions

6. Communicate Your Results

To complete your science fair project you will communicate your results to others in a final report and/or a display board. Professional scientists do almost exactly the same thing by publishing their final report in a scientific journal or by presenting their results on a poster or during a talk at a scientific meeting. In a science fair, judges are interested in your findings regardless of whether or not they support your original hypothesis.

For detailed help with this step, use these resources:

• Final Report

• Abstract

• Display Board

• Science Fair Judging

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the six steps of the scientific method?

The six steps of the scientific method include: 1) asking a question about something you observe, 2) doing background research to learn what is already known about the topic, 3) constructing a hypothesis, 4) experimenting to test the hypothesis, 5) analyzing the data from the experiment and drawing conclusions, and 6) communicating the results to others.

What is a scientific method example?

A simple example of the scientific method is:

• Ask a Question: Why does Greenland look so large on a map?

• Background Research: Learn that Greenland is a quarter the size of the United States in land mass. Also learn that Mercator projection maps are made by transferring the images from a sphere to a sheet of paper wrapped around the sphere in a cylinder.

• Hypothesis: If I make a Mercator projection map, then the items in the middle of the map will look their true size and the items at the poles will look larger than they really are.

• Experiment: Use a sphere with 1-inch by 1-inch squares at each pole and the equator to make a Mercator projection map. Measure the squares on the Mercator projection map.

• Analyze Data and Make Conclusions: The middle-of-the-map squares average 1 inch per side while the squares at the poles average 3 inches per side. In conclusion, the projection process used to make Mercator projection maps creates distortion at the poles, but not at the equator. This is why Greenland, which is close to the North Pole, looks larger than it is.

• Communicate: Make a video, write a report, or give a presentation to educate others about the experiment.

Who invented the scientific method?

The scientific method was not invented by any one person, but is the outcome of centuries of debate about how best to find out how the natural world works. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was among the first known people to promote that observation and reasoning must be applied to figure out how nature works. The Arab Muslim mathematician and scientist Hasan Ibn al-Haytham (known in the western world as Alhazen) is often cited as the first person to write about the importance of experimentation. Since then, a large number of scientists have written about how science should ideally be conducted and contributed to our modern understanding of the scientific method. Those scientists include Roger Bacon, Thomas Aquinas, Galileo Galilei, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, John Hume, and John Stuart Mill. Scientists today continue to evolve and refine the scientific method as they explore new techniques and new areas of science.

Do scientists actually use the scientific method?

Scientists do use the scientific method, but not always exactly as laid out in the organized steps taught in the classroom. Just like a chef might make a few changes to a recipe because of the ingredients at hand, a scientist may modify the scientific method by skipping steps, jumping back and forth between steps, or repeating a subset of the steps because he or she is dealing with imperfect real-world conditions. But scientists always strive to keep to the core principles of the scientific method by using observations, experiments, and data to support or reject explanations of how a phenomenon works. While experimenting is considered the best way to test explanations, there are areas of science, like astronomy, where this is not always possible.

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Source: Science Buddies. 2012. “Steps of the Scientific Method.” Science Buddies. 2012. https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/science-fair/steps-of-the-scientific-method.

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       ​EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS

​In science, we started with extreme environments and will be starting a partnered PowerPoint research assignment. Students will have one week in class to finish this (4 - 5o minute classes), which consists of six questions. After the PowerPoint, the final objective will be to create a miniature prototype that will assist humans in living and surviving. The assignment is located below as well as the marking rubric.

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Extreme Environment Assignment

Extreme Environment Presentation Rubric

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​​​RESOURCES FOR RESEARCH AND PROTOTYPE PROJECT 

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                                                      Click on the above picture for the video

WEBSITES

​EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS 

Exploring Extreme Environments - BC Probe Textbook

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TECHNOLOGIES USED TO EXPLORE EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS 

From Sea to Space / Robots Explore Extreme Environments

Technology for exploring volcanoes

ROPOS is a Canadian-built deep sea submersible

Alvin - Deep Sea submersible 

Canadarm2, the Canadian robotic arm of the International Space Station 

 

VOLCANOES

Volcanoes

National Geographic Kids - 17 Explosive Volcano Facts!

Volcanoes - Weather Wizkids

Easy Science for Kids - Volcanoes

All About Volcanoes for Children 

The Dr. Binocs Show 

Exploring Extreme Environments 

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DESERTS

What's a Desert?

Kids Do Ecology

Deserts - National Geographic

Cool Kids! Desert Facts

Desert Facts - Kidskonnect

Exploring Extreme Environments - Deserts

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POLAR REGIONS

Polar Regions

World Wildlife Fund - Polar Regions

National Geographic Kids - 10 Facts About the Arctic

Science for Kids Club - Polar Climates

BBC  What is a polar habitat?

Exploring Extreme Environments - Polar Regions

Traditional Inuit means for surviving the Arctic region

       - John Tyman Arctic

       - History Museum Exhibitions Treasure

       - History Museum Exhibitions Watercraft

 

OCEANS​

The Ocean

Ocean Facts! National Geographic Kids

Ocean Portal - National Geographic Kids

Life in the Deep Ocean - Windows to the Universe

VENUS and NEPTUNE Programs - Canadian Technologies

Exploring Extreme Environments - Ocean

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SPACE

Learn About Space

Our Universe

Space Station Kids

Extreme Space

Elements of a Space Suit

Why do astronauts wear spacesuits?

What if an astronaut went on a space walk without wearing a space suit?

Exploring Extreme Environments - Space

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