Scientific Method
What is a hypothesis?
An educated guess. Can be tested and explains what will happen in an investigation or experiment.
A good scientist must be able to do three things extremely well. What are those three things?
1. Communicate
2. Work as a team
3. Ask good questions
What is engineering?
Finding solutions to everyday problems. Engineers see a problem and create something to fix that problem, or improve on a product that has already been made.
Models
Scientists often _____ things that the rest of us do not notice or care to learn more about. For example, paleontologists _____ dinosaur bones. Because of this, we know way more about dinosaurs than we would without the paleontologists!
observe
What is technology?
Technology is any device that people use to meet their needs and solve practical problems.
What is a variable?
Any condition that can change in an experiment
True or False
Scientists work only in labs and deal with chemicals.
False.
While some scientists do work in labs and some work with chemicals, not all scientists do. Some may never work in a lab and only in the field!
What could be a possible solution to the following problem?
My mouse cord keeps getting tangled up.
Cordless mouse
It is important to record _____ while doing an experiment. If you do not record _______, you cannot draw a good conclusion from your experiment.
data
What is wrong with the story below?
John is a scientist who is experimenting with what happens when he drops a brick and a golf ball at the same time. He runs his experiment and find they both hit the ground at the same time. His hypothesis was the brick would hit the ground first. Because this was his hypothesis, he changed his data to show that the brick hit the ground first.
John cannot let his opinion affect his experiment. Good scientists remain unbiased. John needs to write his data to match the actual result.
What could be a possible solution to the following problem?
I can't see the bathroom light switch in the dark.
Night light near switch.
Switch that glows in the dark.
What are the steps to the scientific method in order?
1. Make an observation
2. Ask a question
3. Write a testable hypothesis
4. Make a plan
5. Experiment
6. Record and evaluate your data
7. Write your conclusion
8. If there is no logical explanation, go back to hypothesis
True or False
Scientists always work by themselves.
False.
Scientists often work in teams and groups!
What are the steps to the engineering design process in order?
1. Ask
2. Imagine
3. Plan
4. Create a prototype
5. Test the prototype
6. Improve your design