NEW BOOK…CHAPTER 1 REVIEW
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
SCIENCE: Is a way or a process used to investigate what is happening around you.
TECHNOLOGY: Is the application of science to make products or tools that people can use.
BIAS: A predetermined opinion about something that may influence your outlook on an experiment or the world around you in general. TRY TO GET RID OF BIAS IN EXPERIMENTS!
DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH: Answers scientific questions through observations (senses).
OBSERVATIONS: Using the senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste to discover the world around us.
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGN: Is used to answer scientific questions by testing through the use of a series of carefully controlled steps. ALWAYS RUN YOUR EXPERIMENT MORE THAN ONCE!!
SCIENTIFIC METHODS: Work steps to follow to try to solve problems.
MODEL: Represents things that happen too slowly, too quickly, or are too small or too big to observe directly. A good example of a ‘model’ is a GLOBE.
HYPOTHESIS: Is a prediction, or statement, that can be tested.
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE: Is the variable that can be changed. It does AFFECT THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE!
DEPENDENT VARIABLE: Is the factor being measured. It is DIRECTLY AFFECTED by the INDEPENDENT VARIABLE!
EXAMPLE: INDEPENDENT VARIABLE: How many hours you talk on your cell phone. DEPENDENT VARIABLE: How much your monthly bill is.
CONSTANTS: The variables that stay the same.
CONTROL: Is a sample that is treated like the other experimental groups except that the independent variable is not changed.
NUMBER OF TRIALS: Experiments done the same way do not always have the same results. To make sure your results are valid, you need to conduct several trials of your experiment.
ANALYZE YOUR RESULTS: After completing your experiment and obtaining all your data, it is time to analyze your results.
INFERRING: Is explaining or interpreting an observation or statement. EXAMPLE: Billy had a black eye so you may INFER that he got in a fight. It may be a correct inference or incorrect. You took the information and made an inference though.
PREDICTING: Is making an inference about a future event based on current evidence or past experience.
EXPLANATION: Telling WHY something happens
CLASSIFYING: Is organizing objects and events into groups according to a system, or organizing idea.
MAKING MODELS: Scientific models are pictures, diagrams, or other representations of objects or processes.
COMMUNICATION: Sending and receiving messages
ETHICAL PRACTICES: Practices that make sense in science. Things are not harmed, things are safe, and it is logical and reasonable.
CLASSIFYING: Is organizing objects and events into groups according to a system, or organizing idea.
UN-ETHICAL PRACTICES: Practices that DO NOT make sense in science. Things ARE harmed, things are NOT safe, and it is NOT logical NOR reasonable.
The 5 MAIN steps of the scientific method:
PROBLEM What you are solving
HYPOTHESIS Your educated guess/ what will happen
EXPERIMENT Tests your hypothesis
DATA Observations of experiment
CONCLUSION Summarizes the DATA