Transcript Part 1
WHAT DOES THE WORD SCIENCE MEAN? Science is an organized body of knowledge explaining the natural world by making observations and experimenting. Once a scientist has made observation, they have to make decisions about what they saw. The Scientific Method The scientific method is a process for experimentation that is used to explore observations and answer questions. Scientists use the scientific method to search for cause and effect relationships in nature. In other words, they design an experiment so that changes to one item cause something else to change in a predictable way. What is an OBSERVATION? Being a good scientists involves making great observations and then asking questions. Several people can observe the same event but have different explanations. Describe what you observe in this picture. DO NOT discuss it with your neighbors. Observations vs. Inferences An OBSERVATION is something we do with our eyes; when we see something, we observe it. However, all five of our senses can be used to make observations: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. An INFERENCE is an assumption or conclusion based on an observation. It is a logical interpretation based on observations and prior knowledge. Name 2 observations and 2 inferences Name 2 observations and 2 inferences THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD:– a step by step way scientists solve problems. STEP 1: Ask a question– always written in question form The scientist then raises a question about what (s)he sees going on!!! •Question: Where do the flies at the butcher shop really come from? Does rotting meat turn into or produce the flies? •Question: Is there indeed a “life force” present in air (or oxygen) that can cause bacteria to develop by spontaneous generation? Is there a means of allowing air to enter a container, thus any life force, if such does exist, but not the bacteria that are present in that air? Step 2: Hypothesis – a possible answer to the problem statement. Always written as an IF > THEN statement. TESTABLE!! Procedure Step 3: Procedure – a numbered step set of directions that explains the experimental setup. Includes materials list. Variable – what is being tested, what is different in the experiment Independent Variable – The independent variable is the variable that you change on purpose. What you are testing! •Dependent variable – variable you measure -changed by the independent variable. •Control – all the things you keep the same What is the Dependent and Independent Variable? Data and Analysis Step 4: Collect Data – explanation of what happened in the experiment. All data collected should be displayed on a data table or on a graph. DATA:factual information gathered in the experiment.(information or numbers from experiment) What is some data you could collect from these pics? Step 5: Analyze Data • Put the data (numbers) in a graph. There is two types of data researchers can collect: 1. Qualitative data: factual description that do not use numbers. For example, describing the behavior of animals, color of eyes, how mothers react to their young, etc. 2. Quantitative data: factual information that uses number. For example, counting the number of young, measure how tall something grow, etc. Qualitative or Quantitative? Qualitative or Quantitative?