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Scientific
Method
How
can we determine if something is a fact or an opinion?
How can we determine an answer to a problem?
The answer is use the scientific method.
What is the Scientific Method?
_______________________________________________
* Step 1. _______________________________________________.
Make sure only one problem is being studied.
* Step 2. _______________________________________________
Use all available resources to collect data on the subject being covered.
Libraries, Internet, books, magazines, personal interviews, etc.
* Step 3. _______________________________________________.
Make it a short definitive statement. It should be an "if" then"
statement. The if part will become the hypothesis and the
then part should be the results received at the end
of the controlled experiment. Remember your lab IS NOT a failure if your
hypothesis
is wrong!
* Step 4. _______________________________________________
A controlled experiment is an experiment that contains only one experimental
variable.
_______________________________________________
Everything else in the experiment or all other variables must be the
same. These variables are also called the __________________________
Keeping these variables the same allows the experimenter to show that
it
was the experimental variable that caused the results.
* Step 5. _______________________________________________.
The conclusion may or may not support the hypothesis. Additional experimentation
must then take place to build documentation concerning the problem. ____________
change your data to support your hypothesis. If the hypothesis is proven
wrong by your experimental data try to understand WHY its wrong!
Thats done by analyzing the data and drawing conclusions.
Example:
Problem:
Research the problem:
Make a Hypothesis:
Develop a controlled experiment:
Conduct the experiment & collect data:
Form a conclusion based on the data:
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