Steps of the Scientific Method
What is the first step?
The process of asking a question or identifying a problem.
What is an "if-then" statement?
A hypothesis is often stated in this form, predicting cause and effect.
What is an observation?
Using your senses to gather information.
What is the independent variable?
The variable that the scientist changes in an experiment.
What is forming a hypothesis?
This is when a prediction is made based on prior knowledge.
What is a rejected hypothesis?
This term refers to a hypothesis that is proven incorrect by the experiment's results.
What are quantitative observations?
Observations made with tools and measurements are considered this type.
What is the dependent variable?
The variable that is measured or observed.
What is analyzing data?
Scientists do this to understand what the data means and finds the results.
What is testable?
A hypothesis must be this, meaning it can be tested and possibly disproven.
What are qualitative observations?
Observations made using descriptive words are considered this type.
What are control variables?
These are the variables that must be kept constant to ensure a fair test.
What is communicating results?
In the final step, scientists do this to share their findings.
What is prior knowledge?
Before testing, a hypothesis is based on this type of knowledge.
What is a controlled observation?
This type of observation happens when a scientist purposely influences the situation being observed.
What is a variable?
This term describes any factor that can change in an experiment and affect the results.
What is conducting background research?
This step is crucial before forming a hypothesis and involves gathering information.
What is a null hypothesis?
This kind of hypothesis states that there will be no effect or relationship between variables.
What is naturalistic observation?
Behavior is observed in its natural environment without any interference or manipulation by the researcher.
What is a confounding variable?
External factor that can influence both the independent and dependent variables in an experiment