Science & the Scientific Method

Science & theScience & theScientific Scientific MethodMethod

Science & theScience & theScientific Scientific MethodMethod

What is Science?•Science is the attempt to

put the universe in some kind of order that humans can understand.

•From Latin scire (which means “to know”)

What do I need to know about the nature

of science?

Science is constantly changing!

Science is constantly changing!

• Scientists verify each other’s work.

• Every once in a while, the scientists find that a theory or scenario does not always hold true…. So what then?????

SCIENCE MUST CHANGE TO FIT THE NEW FINDINGS.

This is why Science is constantly changing.

Here are some famous scientists…

Albert Einstein Louis Pasteur

Germany- 1879 France- 1822

Physicist The Germ Theory

And more famous scientists…

Ts’ai Lun Beatrix Potter China -105 A.D. England -1866 Paper Mycologist and

Author

And more famous scientists…

Benjamin Banneker Rosalind FranklinUnited States- 1731 England- 1920

Farmer’s Almanac x-ray crystallography of

& wooden clock DNA

And more famous scientists…

Archimedes Miguel Servet- Greece-287 B.C. Spain 1511 Density of an irregular Function of

pulmonary object system

What’s the point????

Scientists can be of any age, race,

gender, religion or culture!

You can be a Scientist!

And…..Scientists rarely work alone...

They are much happier working in groups!

So far we know…•Science is constantly changing•Scientists can be from any race,

gender, age, culture or religion.•Scientists like to work in groups!

So, How Do We Study Science?

We use the Scientific Method!!!

Step 1: Identify a problem

•Ask a question.

Step 2: Research the Problem

• Look at reliable sources• Determine what is already

known about the problem.• Write this under “Background

Information” in the lab write-up.

Step 3: Form a Hypothesis

•Hypothesis- a testable explanation of an observation

• A hypothesis is NOT just an educated guess about what you think will happen. It must be TESTABLE!!!!

Step 4: Design an Experiment

•How are you going to test your hypothesis?

•You Design an Experiment!

Step 5: Test your hypothesis

•Follow a procedure•Keep the procedure the same every time!

How many times should you repeat the trials to

make sure your experiment is valid?

3

Step 6: Organize your data

• Put your data into a data table

IndependentVariable

__________(unit)

Levels

Dependent Variable _______________ (unit)

Trial 1 Trail 2 Trail 3 mean range

Step 6: Organize your data

•Make the data table into a graph

•Graphs make it easier to see patterns in the data.

Step 6: Organize your data

• DRY MIX– Dependent Variable = Responding Variable = Y axis– Manipulated Variable = Independent Variable = X axis

Step 7: Draw Conclusion(s)

•Was your hypothesis correct?• If your hypothesis was not

accurate or if you think there was an error collecting data Start over and re-do experiment!

Step 8: Communicate Results

•Tell the scientific community what you discovered!

Any Questions????