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Scientific Inquiry

Scientific Inquiry. What is Science?. What is Science?. A body of knowledge A set of theories that describes the world A way of learning about the world A method to answer questions about the natural world. How do Scientists Learn About the World?. Ask a question Make a prediction

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Scientific Inquiry

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  1. Scientific Inquiry What is Science?

  2. What is Science? • A body of knowledge • A set of theories that describes the world • A way of learning about the world • A method to answer questions about the natural world

  3. How do Scientists Learn About the World? • Ask a question • Make a prediction • Test the prediction • Compare results to the prediction • Make a conclusion • Hypothesis is either rejected, or supported

  4. The Scientific Method-ask a question • Only questions which can be answered through experiments. • Examples of goodscientific questions: • How does the amount of nitrogen fertilizer affect the height of pea plants? • Does increasing the temperature of an enzyme increase its rate of reaction?

  5. Write a Good Scientific Question.

  6. Scientific Method-make a prediction • Make a prediction • A scientists prediction about the results of an experiment is called the hypothesis • The hypothesis must betestable and specific and always written as a statement • Hypotheses usually begin with “I think that……” or “If…………then…………” • Example: I think that the more fertilizer that a pea plant gets, the taller it will grow

  7. Scientific Method-test the prediction • Controlled Experiments • Used by Scientists to test their hypothesis • Always have at least two groups: • Control Group- stays the same • Experimental Group- changes, receives some sort of treatment

  8. How are the control group and the experimental group different?

  9. Scientific Method-compare results • Scientists analyze the data collected • Data is information • Compare the data from the control group with the experimental group • Use statistics to see if there is significant difference • Example- the pea plants in the experimental group grew an average of 18.3cm, while the control group grew an average of 12.6cm

  10. Scientific Method- make a conclusion • Examine data, charts, graphs, to determine if the hypothesis is supported or rejected • Could the differences be due to chance? • Use statistics to tell

  11. Scientific Method- hypothesis rejected or supported? • If supported, repeat experiment to see if it is valid ( able to be repeated with the same results) • If rejected, then come up with a new hypothesis and experiment, repeat the process

  12. Controlled Experiments- variables • Three types of variables: • Independent- the thing that is different between the experimental and control group • Dependent- the data you collect as your experiment progresses, depends on the independent variable • Controlled- remains the same

  13. I set up an experiment with 30 pea plants. I give 10 plants no fertilizer, 10 plants 5g. of fertilizer, and 10 plants 15g. of fertilizer. After 14 days I measure the height of the plants. • What is the independent variable? • The amount of fertilizer • What is the dependent variable? • The height of the pea plants • What are the 2 controlled variables? • The amount of soil and water • What is the control group? • Plants with no fertilizer • What is the experimental group? • The two groups of plants getting fertilizer

  14. What makes a good experiment? • Large number of samples • Only one independent variable • Validity • Conclusions based on evidence • Is based on fact, not opinion

  15. Design an Experiment ! • Think of an experiment to test the hypothesis that sleeping more than 8 hours a night improves a students grades on Science quizzes! • Control group: • Experimental Group: • Independent Variable: • Dependent Variable: • Controlled Variables:

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