The Scientific Method involves a series of steps that

are used to investigate a natural occurrence

Scientists use experiments to test a hypothesis or answer a question

Parts of an Experiment

QUESTION/PROBLEM

What question is being answered, problem solved, or hypothesis tested.

For example, “How many drops of water fit on a penny?”

Hypothesis An educated guess about the results. • If… Then… (statement) • If describes the independent variable. • Then describes the dependent variable. What are some hypotheses you can come up

with about the penny? Write yours down!

Parts of an Experiment

Materials:

Items used during the experiment.

What would we need for the penny experiment? Write yours down…

Parts of an Experiment

Procedures: Steps followed during experiment.

– Write in a numbered list – Should be detailed enough that anyone can follow

exactly what you did. – How many times you are going to do the

experiment? It should be written here!

Parts of an Experiment

• with your tablemate to practice writing

out a procedure for testing the penny experiment.

• Be specific!

Observations/Data Collection: All the information gathered while

performing the experiment. Always show units when measuring is required.

• Observations should be made about the experiment. (Describe what you observing when it happens)

Now, do the experiment! Record your data in a table you make in your notes.

Parts of an Experiment

Analysis/Results: GRAPHS can SHOW your results in an easier to read way.

Now you take your data and present it in a graph. You always present your AVERAGE results if you could do repeat trials – or else present all of the data you have.

Graphs need the same title as your Data Table. They type of graph you use depends on what you measured –

for example, a line graph shows change over time, a bar graph shows final results

Parts of an Experiment

Results/Conclusions: Analyze your data to determine the final

outcome of the experiment Restate your original problem (The purpose of this lab

is to determine) What do you NOW believe as a result of the

experiment or observations? Restate your hypothesis (or at least relate your

findings to it) Support your claim with at least 2 pieces of data Use good explanatory language

Parts of an Experiment

Practice Conclusion

• What should our conclusion be about how many drops of water a penny can hold? Write one for your experiment, using the above guidelines:

There are two groups in a controlled experiment:

1) Control Group: the part of the experiment that is left alone or “natural”. Used to compare back to.

There are two groups in a controlled experiment:

2) Experimental Group: the part of the experiment in which a factor or variable is changed.

• Variables are parts of an experiment

Controlled variables (constants): factors in an experiment that are NOT changed.

Manipulated (independent) variable: factors in an experiment that are changed.

•Good experiments have only ONE manipulated variable.

Responding (dependent) variable: the factor that you are measuring.

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The Scientific Method Video