Scientific Method
What is the first step of the scientific method?
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What is an Independent Variable?
The factor that is changed by the scientist.
Fill in the blank: If the ________, then the Dependent Variable.
IV
Ball Drop Lab-
We changed the height that the ball was dropped from, and we measured the height of the bounce.
What was our Independent Variable?
The height the ball was dropped from
What is research?
Gathering information for a better understanding
How many steps are in the scientific method?
8
What is a Dependent Variable?
The factor that depends on the IV and can be measured.
True or False: It is bad if your hypothesis turns out to not be correct.
False
Sammy wants to find out if feeding birds different types of food would attract more birds to her feeder.
What is her Dependent Variable?
Amount of birds that come to her feeder
What is a conclusion?
The answer you come to at the end
In which step of the scientific method do you graph your data?
Gather and Analyze Data
What is a Control Variable?
Standard for Comparison
What is a hypothesis?
Mike changes the slope of the ramp to see how fast the marble rolls down the ramp.
Name one constant for the investigation.
Size/type of marble, material of ramp, etc
What is a constant?
Something that stays the same the whole time
What is the second step of the scientific method?
Research
What is a constant?
Variable that stays the same throughout the experiment.
3
Tommy wants to find out if practicing throwing a baseball more would improve how fast he is able to pitch.
What is the independent and dependent variable?
Independent Variable- time spent practicing
Dependent Variable- speed of his pitch
What is the scientific method?
Organized set of procedures to follow during an experiment.
What is the last step of the scientific method?
Further Research
What axis is the IV graphed on and what axis is the DV graphed on?
IV- x axis
DV- y axis
During which step of the scientific method do you acknowledge if your hypothesis was correct or not?
Conclusion
A student wants to find out if the weight of a paper airplane effects the distance it is able to fly. To change the weight of the plane the student adds paper clips to its wings.
Identify the Independent Variable, the Dependent Variable, and one constant.
IV- Weight of the plane/amount of paperclips added
DV- how far the plane flys
Constant- material of paper, size of paperclips, the way you throw the plane, who throws the plane, etc
What is an average and how do you find it?
The central value
Add the numbers from trial 1, 2, and 3, then divide by 3 (or the total number of trials)