Steps of The Scientific Method
How do most experiments start?
With a question.
I predict that if I water plants daily they will grow faster.
What is an example of a hypothesis?
An observation with measurements or numbers.
Example: The plant is 7 inches tall.
What is a quantitative observation?
A variable in an experiment that stays the same throughout the whole experiment.
What is a constant variable?
In an experiment there's one group that's exposed to everything in the experiment except for the independent variable.
What is this group called?
The control group
A possible answer to the question of the experiment that is testable.
What is a hypothesis?
According to our experiment strawberry plants grow the fastest in white light.
What is an example of a scientific conclusion?
(plants may or may not grow fastest in white light I have not done any research on the subject this was purely an example of what a scientific conclusion might look like)
An observation you get from using your senses (without involving numbers).
Example: The rock is shiny.
What is a qualitative observation?
A variable that you purposefully change in an experiment.
What is an independent variable?
Jake was sitting in his English class when he thought of a question. He decided to ask his teacher if he could go to the library to see if the school had any books on the topic. He finds a book and checks it out when he gets back to class he starts reading the book he got about plants and what color light they grow the best in.
What step of the scientific method is Jake doing?
Researching
In what step of the scientific method are you gathering information to help you form a hypothesis?
Research
In what step of the scientific method could you possibly make and observe graphs, charts, and tables to represent your data?
Analysis of data.
An observation that includes bais
What is a subjective observation?
The variable that you measure in an experiment.
What is the dependent variable?
Ron did an experiment to see what fertilizer works best with strawberry plants. He concluded that fertilizer number two worked the best. Ron then decides to write and publish an article based off his findings.
What step of the scientific method is Ron doing while publishing his article?
Communication of results
What step of the scientific method is used to explain what happened in an experiment?
The conclusion.
Nick is currently reading an article on a question he had. Nick's question is "What beverages stain your teeth the most?". The article he is reading is about an experiment someone did in the past on this subject, and he thinks he might replicate the experiment himself but with other beverages to test it himself.
What step of the scientific method was Nick doing when he was reading the article?
Research
An accurate observation without one's opinion.
What is an objective observation?
John is conducting an experiment, his experiment is called "How do different liquids affect the color of an egg shell?" in this experiment John puts eggs shells in cups with different types of liquids and drinks and records his observations over the next two weeks.
What axis would you put the liquids on based on the information above?
The x-axis.
John is conducting an experiment, his experiment is called "How do different liquids affect the color of an egg shell?" in this experiment John puts eggs shells in cups with different types of liquids and drinks and records his observations over the next two weeks.
If one of John's observations is "The color of the egg shell that was put in orange soda is ugly after one and a half weeks." What type of observation is that?
A subjective observation.
What step of the scientific method includes making graphs?
The analysis of data.
Nick is currently reading an article on a question he had. Nick's question is "What beverages stain your teeth the most?". The article he is reading is about an experiment someone did in the past on this subject, and he thinks he might replicate the experiment himself but with other beverages to test it himself.
What step of the scientific method was used when the person who wrote the article posted it for the public and other scientists to see?
Communication of results
The rock by the pier was smooth and shiny.
What is an example of a qualitative observation?
Fred is conducting an experiment, his experiment is called "What color light best helps a strawberry plant grow?" in this experiment Fred takes five strawberry plants and puts each one under a different color light. The five colors he uses are white, red, blue, green, and orange.
With the information above what axis would the strawberry plants go on?
The y-axis.
You could see though the water bottle until Timmy put rocks in it then all you could see were the rocks in the bottle.
What type of observation is that?
A qualitative observation