Phy Science - Nature of Science - Day 1

Physical Science

Unit 1 - The nature of science​

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Physical Science Covers...

1. Physics Overview

2. Chemistry Overview​

​PHYSICS OVERVIEW

• Unit 1 - Motion

  • The Nature of Science

  • Speed vs Velocity

  • Acceleration

• Unit 2 - Forces

  • Types and properties of forces

  • Friction and Types of Friction

  • Gravity and Newtons Law of Gravitation

  • Acceleration due to gravity

  • Projectile Motion

  • Circular/Orbital Motion

  ​

​Unit 3 - Newton's Laws

• ​Newton's 1st Law, Inertia

• Newtons 2nd Law, Acceleration due to force and mass

• Momentum & Conservation of Momentum

​

Unit 4 - Work, Energy & Everyday Machines​

• ​Work & Power

• Mechanical Advantage

​

Unit 5 - Energy

• ​Forms of Energy

• Energy Conversion​

• Thermal Energy​

• Electricity​

• Magnetism​

​

​Unit 6 - Waves

• Sound

• Electromagnetic

• Light

• Mirrors and Lenses​

​Chemistry Overview

• Unit 7 - Matter

  • Solids, Liquids, and Gases

  • Classifying Matter

  • Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table

• Unit 8 - Chemical Reactions

  • Chemical Bonds

  • Chemical Reactions

  • Radioactivity and Nuclear Reactions

• Unit 9 - Applications of Chemistry

  • Solutions

  • Acids, Bases, and Salts

  • Organic Compounds​

​Let's get to it!

​What will we do today?

​

1. ​You will learn about the Scientific Method

2. You will learn how to set up an experiment

3. You will come up with a hypothesis, and then you will set up an experiment to test that hypothesis.​

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​So will we do fun stuff in Physical Science?

​Only if you thing fun stuff includes...

​

• Dropping stuff from high places - Egg Drop

• Building Catapults

• Doing chemical reactions that go BOOM

• Building electric motors

• Wiring circuits​

Poll

Interested Yet?

• Yes

• No

• Still Thinking about dropping this like a bad habit

​What is the Scientific Method and why is it so important?

​Humans have always been curious critters

What are the steps to the Scientific Method?

• 6 steps

• Ask a question

• Research

• Hypothesis

• Experiment

• Analysis

• Conclusion

​ We observe and we have questions​

We come up with a plausible explanation

​

That is a Hypothesis - It is a clear statement that answers our question

​

It must be testable! In science we have to test it. Will our hypothesis stand up? If not - Its back to the drawing board.​

​We want to be very careful when we set up an experiment. We only want to change one thing at a time.

Multiple Choice

One of the most important characteristics of a hypothesis is that it is:

• correct

• testable

• complex

• non-specific

Independent Variables

• Independent variables are the variables that don't depend on the other variables

• An example of a common independent variable would be time

• An easy way to think of these variables are that they are what scientists change to observe what changes in the other variable
  
  

Finding the Independent Variable

• Patrick tests fish that have eaten microwaved food and un-microwaved food by having them swim through a maze and seeing how long it takes them

• The fishes' maze time DEPENDS on the food they consume, so the independent variable would be the fish food

Dependent Variables

• Dependent variables are the variables that are affected by other variables

• An easy way to identify dependent variables is looking at what results the scientist is looking for

Finding the Dependent Variable

• The scientist wants to see the effect bug spray has on bug bites.

• The bug bites DEPEND on the bug spray so the dependent variable is the number of bug bites

Control Variables

• Control variables are kept the same throughout the experiment

• Keeping the control variables the same allows the scientist to see if the independent variable is affecting the dependent variable, instead of the dependent variable being affected by the control

• You can identify the constant by looking for what has been kept the same through the experiment

EX: Two groups of students were tested to compare their speed working math problems. Each group was given the same problems. One group used calculators and the other group computed without calculators. 

• The control variable was kept the same

• The math problems would be the control variable

• If the groups of students were given different math problems, using calculators may have not had an affect on their speed

Poll

How confident are you that you could identify independent, dependent, and control variables?

• Very confident

• Confident

• Not sure

• Doubtful

• Very doubtful

​I've Got a Question...

​Let's set up an experiment!!!