We now have some background information...Where do we go from here?
We go to Step 3
Step 3: Form a Hypothesis
- Hypothesis: An Educated Guess...Take your question and turn it into an answer.
- It does not matter weather your hypothesis is right or wrong because we are going to test our hypothesis.
- We are using it as the starting point for our experiment.
- THE HYPOTHESIS MUST BE TESTABLE
- Example: "The flavor of Stride gum will last longer than that of Orbit gum."
We have made an observation...Now What?
Move to Step 2
Now we have a hypothesis that we can test....What next?
Move to Step 4
STEP 2: Research
Step 4: Conduct the Experiment
- Do some background research to see if there is already information that has been found on our topic.
- Try the library, the internet, or magazines
- Example: "From the research that I found Stride gum has been proven to last longer than Orbit gum."
- Now you will design and conduct an experiment
- It is important to remember that during your experiment, you need to RECORD YOUR OBSERVATIONS in a science notebook
- Example: "I will chew at least one piece of stride gum and one piece of orbit gum and record how long the flavor lasts in each piece."
Now we have conducted our experiment.....what do we do with the information that we found?
Where Do We Start?
Move to Step 5
Step 1
Step 5: Drawing Conclusions
STEP 1: Make Observations
- Now that we have our information, we need to conclude what the results of the experiment were based on our experiment
- Do your results agree with your hypothesis?
- If your hypothesis was "way off" then you can go back, form a new hypothesis and repeat the steps
- Example: "My hypothesis was correct, the flavor is Stride gum did last longer than orbit gum."
- Think about things that make you curious.....
- Do you wonder what causes something or why something happens?
- Find something that interests you and something that you would like to know more about.....
- Example: "I really like chewing gum, I wonder which kind of gum has flavor that lasts the longest?"
In science and In Life...
How Do We Find Answers To Questions We Don't Know?
Now I will pass out a worksheet and you will try to label the different steps of the Scientific Method!
We use the Scientific Method to find answers to questions we don't know.
Applies logic, order, and critical thinking skills to solve problems and find new information.
Read Carefully and Follow the Directions!
There are 5 Steps to the Scientific Method
The Scientific Method