A process used to explore observations and answer questions.

1. What is the Scientific Method? A Process for experimentation that is used to explore observations and answer questions. httpfno.org imagesclip3.jpg

2. Steps of the Scientific Method Ask a Question Do Background Research Construct a Hypothesis Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion Communicate Your Results

3. Steps of the Scientific Method Source http://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/overview_scientific_method2.gif

4. How Does the Scientific Method Work? We encounter the scientific method everyday as we solve problems. For example, you get ready to go to work or school. What are some of the questions that might come to mind? [Pause and ask for students’ input] An example will be: “Which way can I drive to work/school to avoid traffic congestion?”

5. How Does the Scientific Method Work? Another possible situation will be, You have two tests on Monday, and you have been very busy all weekend such that you really did not have enough time to study as much as you would have liked to. What are some of the questions/issues that come to mind? [Pause and get students’ input]. One of the questions will be: “Should I divide my time equally among the two or allot more time to one than the other”?

6. How Does the Scientific Method Work: continued The above examples are some of the ones we deal with everyday. What process do we use to solve them? You may not have thought about it before but there are certain steps that almost everyone uses to solve problems. Lets examine these steps.

7. Solving Problems Using a Scientific Approach Recognize the problem and state it clearly. Some information becomes known, or something happens that requires action. This is called making an observation in science.

8. Solving Problems Using a Scientific Approach Propose possible solutions to the problem or possible explanations for the observation. This is called formulating a hypothesis. Decide which of the solutions is the best or decide whether the explanation proposed is reasonable. To do this, we search our memory for new pertinent information or we seek new information. We call searching for new information performing an experiment.

9. Students Participating in a Scientific Investigation http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/teacher_resources-sciencestudents.jpg

10. Solving Problems Using a Scientific Approach Experiments should be repeated several times to make sure that the first results weren’t just an accident. Analyze Your Data. Once the experiment is complete, collect your measurements and analyze them to see if your hypothesis is true or false.

11. Different Types of Graphs are used to present data. http://design.phpmagazine.net/upload/2005/12/css-graphs-thumb.png

12. Solving Problems Using a Scientific Approach Scientists use these steps to study what happens in our universe. Many times they find that their hypothesis was false, and if that happens, they will formulate a new hypothesis and start the whole process of scientific method all over again. Also, new information or thinking can cause the scientist to back up and repeat steps at any point in the process.

13. Practice Assignment You will work together with your assigned partner to answer the following questions based on the Scientific Method. Once this is done, each group will share their responses with the entire class, and also comment on the other group responses. Each group will turn in their original responses and also, the improved/revised responses following the class reviews.

14. Case Study You are sharing a room with a room mate in college and you have been experiencing bad headaches every night when you sit at your desk to do homework after dinner. You have decided to investigate what is causing the problem by using the Scientific Method. Using the steps outlined in the lecture, explain in detail how you would attempt to solve this problem. You should come up with at least 3 hypotheses and describe an experiment to test each of them.

15. Individual Assignment You are to come up with a scenario, a case study question similar to the one proposed in the Practice (group) exercise. Answer the same questions using your scenario and turn in your assignment using the feature in black board. This is an individual assignment and students are not allowed to colaborate with each other.

16. The Scientific Method Poster httpimages6.cafepress.comproduct361004446v26_480x480_Front.jpg