The Scientific Method Day 1 Intro

The Scientific Method

Day 1: Introduction to the Scientific method.

Discuss with your partner

What do you think scientists do when they want to learn something new?

Then on the next slide, write down what you think they might do first, next, and last.

Open Ended

What do you think a scientist might do first, second and last?

Discuss with your partner

Scientists use the scientific method to answer their questions.

what do you already know about the scientific method? On the next slide you will try to put the steps in order.

Don't worry if you are not sure about the answer, this question is like a pre-test.

Reorder

Try to put the steps of the Scientific Method in order.

• Make an observation

• Ask questions

• Form a hypothesis

• Make a prediction

• Do a test or experiment

1

2

3

4

5

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Reorder

Now try again to put the steps of the Scientific Method in order.

• Make an observation

• Ask questions

• Form a hypothesis

• Make a prediction

• Do a test or experiment

1

2

3

4

5

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Step 1

Make an Observation

Observe something interesting. Look around and notice things in the world or in this room.

For example, you may notice that some students erasers are smaller than other students erasers.

Observation: Using any of your five sense (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell) to gather information about something.

Open Ended

Look around the room, or think about your home, what are some observations that you can make?

Step 2

Ask a Question

The scientific method starts with curiosity. You ask a question about something you're interested in or curious about. This question needs to be specific and something you can investigate.

For the eraser example it might be: Why are some students erasers smaller than other students erasers?

Categorize

Options (6)

Do black cats purr more than yellow cats?

Do more kids prefer Christmas or Halloween?

What candy bar is more popular at AJHS, snickers or kitkat?

Ms. Land has brown hair.

We start school at 8 am.

The window blinds are red.

Organize these options into the right categories

Question

Observation

Step 3

Form a Hypothesis

Once you have a question, you make an educated guess called a hypothesis. Your hypothesis is like a prediction of what you think will happen based on your knowledge and research.

In our eraser example your knowledge tells you that your erasers have also gotten smaller over time, so your hypothesis might be: I think that the eraser will get worn down if I use it more.

Multiple Choice

What is a hypothesis?

• A question you have about the world.

• An educated guess you have about what the answer might be.

• A for sure answer that you have discovered through experimentation.

• An observation that you made about the world.

Step 4

Make a Prediction

A prediction is what you think might happen in your experiment. It's your best guess based on what you already know.

In our eraser example your prediction might be: I think the eraser would be worn down after erasing 150 times.

Multiple Choice

What should a prediction be based on?

• Random thoughts

• What your friend thinks

• Something you've never heard of

• What you already know

Home

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Step 5

Do a Test or Experiment

Conduct your experiment and collect data. Data is the information that you gather during your experiment through careful observations and measurements.

In our eraser experiment, we might run the eraser over a piece of paper and count how many times we can erase before our eraser is worn down.

Multiple Choice

What is the main purpose of conducting an experiment?

• To collect data through observations and measurements

• To guess the results

• To write a report

• To plant more trees

Step 6

Analyze Data and Make Conclusions

After you have collected your data, it's time to analyze it. This means looking for patterns, trends, or differences in your data. You might create graphs or charts to help you visualize the information.

In our eraser experiment we'd analyze how many erases it took for our eraser to wear down. We might also have made some other observations as well such as the eraser kept working for 10 erases after it looked completely worn down.

Step 7

Share results

After you have determined whether or not your prediction was correct, then you share your results with others.


In our eraser example you may create a poster that shares your question, hypothesis, prediction, experiment and results.

Match

Which goes with which step?

• Observation

• Question

• Prediction

• Experiment

• Share results

Some erasers are smaller than others.

Why are some eraser smaller than others?

150 erases before eraser worn down.

Counting times you erased.

Making a poster

• Some erasers are smaller than others.

• Why are some eraser smaller than others?

• 150 erases before eraser worn down.

• Counting times you erased.

• Making a poster

End of Lesson 1









Keep going for an extra credit option.

Open Ended

Can you find a better scientific method song than I had attached earlier? If you can, put the link here.