Scientific Method
What is the first step of the scientific method?
What is: Ask a question
What variable is purposely changed in an experiment?
Indpedent Variable
What three words should every hypothesis include, in order?
If... Then... because
What should you look for when analyzing data?
Patterns
A student wants to find out if plants grow taller when they receive more sunlight. What is the independent variable?
Amount of Sunlight
What should you do during the observation step?
Make observations/ figure out what you already know.
What variable is being measured in an experiment?
Dependent
What makes a question testable?
It must be possible to test it through an experiment and collect data.
What is one way to display recorded data
A graph
A student measures the height of a plant every three days. What is the dependent variable?
Height of plant
The 3 parts of the experiment phase
Gather materials, follow procedure, record data
What is a control variable
A variable that is kept the same.
Complete this hypothesis: “If plants receive more sunlight, then they will grow taller ______.”
because... sunlight helps plants grow through photosynthesis.
Why is it important to record data during an experiment?
So you have evidence to analyze and use when drawing your conclusion.
A student gives one plant 100 mL of water and another plant 200 mL of water. Name one control variable that should stay the same.
type of plant, amount of sunlight, type of soil, temperature, size of pot
List the 6 steps of the scientific method in order
Question, observation, hypothesis, experiment, analyze, conclusion
In an experiment testing whether the amount of water affects plant growth, what is the independent variable?
Amount of water
A student asks, “Does the temperature of water affect how quickly sugar dissolves?” Why is this a testable question?
It can be tested by changing the water temperature and measuring how long the sugar takes to dissolve.
Your hypothesis predicted that plants given more water would grow taller, but your data showed the opposite. What should you do in your conclusion?
Suggest what to change for next time
What kind of graph should you use to see how much something grew over time.
Line graph, bar graph
A scientist notices that ice melts faster on a sunny windowsill than in a cupboard. What scientific-method step does this observation help lead to, and what could the scientist do next?
Observation → question. The scientist could ask a testable question such as, “Does sunlight affect how quickly ice melts?”
A student tests whether different amounts of fertilizer affect plant growth. Identify the independent, dependent, and one control variable.
Write a complete hypothesis for this question: “Does the amount of sunlight a plant receives affect its height?”
If I give a plan more sunlight, then it will grow taller because sunlight provides energy through photosynthesis.
A scientist's data shows that plants receiving 2 cups of water grew 8 cm, while plants receiving 4 cups grew 12 cm. What pattern do you see, and what could the scientist conclude?
The plants that got more water grew taller
A student asks: “Does the colour of a cup affect how quickly water evaporates?”
What would the student measure to collect data?
The amount of water that evaporates/ amount of water reamining in the cup.