The Scientific Method

© Sheila Porter – SciFest@School© Sheila Porter – SciFest@School

Safety in the lab

Students must obey the laboratory rules Students must obey the laboratory rules

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Observing the results

Carrying out experiments

Making observatio

ns

Forming a hypothesis

Forming a theory

Publishing your results

Accepting

Rejecting

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

© Sheila Porter – SciFest@School© Sheila Porter – SciFest@School

Key Skills

logical thinking, reasoning and the formation of opinions and judgements based on evidence and experiment

planning and designing of experiments

teamwork and communication

manipulation of equipment

the ability to measure and record data accurately

lateral thinking

The Scientific Method develops and encourages:

© Sheila Porter – SciFest@School© Sheila Porter – SciFest@School

Syllabus Links

Investigative approach

Revised Junior Certificate Science Syllabus

Ref. 4. PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES IN SCIENCE – INVESTIGATIONS

Investigations can be used to develop skills of logical thinking

and problem solving, and can give the student an insight into

the scientific process. Thus, the student can appreciate the

importance of using a fair test in order to arrive at valid

deductions and conclusions, and the significance of making

and recording measurements and observations accurately.

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The Hypothesis

1. Ask a Question:

How, What, When, Who, Which, Why, or Where?

2. Do Background Research:

This will help you to find the best way to do things and

insure that you don't repeat mistakes from the past.

3. a Hypothesis:

A hypothesis is an educated guess about how things work:

"If _____ , then _____ will ______." It should be based on your

research.

For example,

“If leaf colour is affected by temperature , then exposing plants

to different temperatures will change the colour of the leaves."

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Fair Test and Variables

• Independent Variable: This is the variable you will

change in your experiment.

• Dependent Variable: This is the variable that

changes as a result of the changes in the

independent variable.

• Controlled (Fixed) Variables: These are all the

things that you will keep the same in your

experiment. © Sheila Porter – SciFest@School© Sheila Porter – SciFest@School

Hypothesis: The more calcium chloride you add to water the more the temperature increases

Independent Variable: This is the variable you will change in your experiment

Mass of calcium chloride (g)

Dependent Variable: This is the variable that changes as a result of the changes in the independent variable

Temperature of water (OC)

Controlled (Fixed) Variables: These are all the things that you have to keep the same in your experiment • Same volume of water (75 ml)• Same time to dissolve (2 min)• Constant stirring

© Sheila Porter – SciFest@School© Sheila Porter – SciFest@School