The Scientific Method

1. The Scientific Method TURN In Syllabus and safety Contract Turn in HW!

2. Warm-up for 8/17/18 • With your table partner, come up with one LAB SAFETY Rule. • Get Ready to SHARE OUT!!!

3. The Scientific Method • Using the physical, observable world to explain the physical components of nature • Biology is done in one of two ways: • Discovery Science: describing nature • Observations of facts • Measurements of phenomena (observable fact) • Hypothesis-Based Science: explaining nature • Comparative questions • Hypotheses • Experiments

4. Types of Biology • Write an example of discovery science. • Write an example of hypothesis-based science.

5. Hypothesis-Based Method • Observe • Question • Hypothesize • Test/Experiment • Conclusion

6. Additional Resources • Scientific Method Video • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi0hwFDQTSQ

7. 1) Observation • Begin by observing a problem in nature • A problem can be anything you don’t know how to explain • Observations can be of everyday life, nature, space, etc. • The physical world/universe

8. 2) Question • The question/problem must be: • Specific • Comparative • Testable • Correct Example: • Will water leak out of a bottle with a hole in the side when compared to a bottle with no hole? • Incorrect Example: • Is the Mona Lisa more beautiful than The Blue Boy?

9. Write a Comparative Question • We will be testing how quickly antacids dissolve in different water samples. Write a comparative question for the above experiment that you can test.

10. 3) Hypotheses • A list of all possible outcomes in an experiment • One of these outcomes includes your own prediction of what will happen. • Example: • Antacids will dissolve more quickly in gasoline than oil. • Antacids will dissolve more quickly in oil than gasoline. • Antacids will dissolve at the same speed in both gasoline and oil.

11. Hypotheses Practice • Write all the hypotheses for your antacid experiment • Identify which hypothesis is your prediction

12. 4) Test/Experiment • Must address your question • Must be repeatable • 2 groups (one for each part of your comparison): • Independent variable – the 1 difference between the 2 groups • The scientist intentionally adds or removes something from one group; this is recorded as data • Dependent variable – changes that occur during the experiment • As a result of the independent variable • This is recorded as data • Controlled Experiment – everything else in the experiment must remain the same between both groups

13. Tests • What is the independent variable in your antacid experiment? • What is the dependent variable you expect to record in your antacid experiment?

14. Experimental Error • The study of life can be difficult, mistakes will happen: • Avoidable error • An error that can be controlled for in future experiments • Unavoidable error • An error that cannot be corrected for

15. There are many sources of error (next to each type put whether they are avoidable or unavoidable) • Not following instructions = _______ • Disease = _______ • Measuring mistakes = _______ • unpredictable animal behavior = _______ • Death = _______ • human error = _______

16. 5) Conclusion • An analysis of the data collected during the experiment • Explanation of what happened • Explain the results and compare them to your hypotheses • Build on ideas that succeed; reject ideas that fail • Scientists will often publish their success to share with the world, and to make sure they get credit for their discovery • A theory is a strong scientific statement supported by hundreds of experiments

17. Mythbusters • Did they do the science the correct way? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmut9NOtvnY • Identify: Observation, question, hypotheses, experiment, independent variable, dependent variable, & conclusions • What could they have done better?