Think Like A Scientist

Do Now: Scenario

Observation: Your parent’s car did not turn on this morning. Come up with 2 testable questions you would ask your parent to help you come up with the best possible explanation to why the car will not turn on. Pick one of the questions and form a Hypothesis.

*Hypothesis- A possible explanation to an observation. (It is not a question)

Questions -> Hypothesis

1. Did you forget to turn off the car lights last night?

H:The car did not turn on because the battery died.

2.When was the last time you put gas in the car?

H:The car did not turn on because there is no gas.

Experiment

What are some things you can do to test your hypothesis?

-Jump start the car-Go buy a gallon of gas

Do Now

What are the steps of the scientific method?

Purpose/Question- "Does the color of a light bulb affect the growth of grass seeds?"

Hypothesis- “educated guess”. (Statement)

This is usually stated like " If I...(do something) then...(this will occur)"

An example would be, "If I grow grass seeds under green light bulbs, then they will grow faster than plants growing under red light bulbs."

Scientific method example

Experiment- Design a procedure to find out if your hypothesis is correct.

In our example, you would set up grass seeds under a green light bulb and seeds under a red light and observe each for a couple of weeks. You would also set up grass seeds under regular white light so that you can compare it with the others.

Scientific Method example continued

Finish this sentenceA good procedure must include___________

Analysis- Record what happened during the experiment. Also known as 'data'.

Conclusion- Review the data and check to see if your hypothesis was correct. If the grass under the green light bulb grew faster, then you proved your hypothesis, if not, your hypothesis was wrong. It is not "bad" if your hypothesis was wrong, because you still discovered something!

Scientific Method example continued

Other terms you should know!Independent Variable- I manipulate (X axis) What you are changing?

Ex. different color light bulbs used on plants

Dependent Variable- dependents on the independent variable (Y Axis) The result

Ex. Height of the plants

Constant VariablesTo be sure that your results are caused only by changes in the manipulated variable, you need to control all other variables that might affect your experiment.

*Constant variables means keeping conditions the same.

For example, you would keep all the flowers at the same temperature. Other variables you would control include the type and size of the containers, the number of flowers in each container, and the amount of light they receive.

Successful Experiments

Control group – group used for comparison

Experimental group – group exposed to the independent variable

Constant – factors that remain fixed during an experiment

Large sample size= more accurate results

Pick a question and design an experiment using the scientific method.

1.How is heart rate affected by exercise?2.Does music have an effect on plant growth?3.Do cell phones effect students grades?4. Does sitting in the back of the class effect your grade?5. Do larger class sizes achieve better grades on exams?

Smithers thinks that a special juice will increase the productivity of workers. He creates two groups of 50 workers each and assigns each group the same task (in this case, they're supposed to staple a set of papers). Group A is given the special juice to drink while they work. Group B is not given the special juice. After an hour, Smithers counts how many stacks of papers each group has made. Group A made Identify the:

Control Group

 

Which is the experimental group?

3. Independent (Manipulated) Variable

3. Dependent (Responding) Variable

4. What should Smithers' conclusion be?

1,587 stacks, Group B made 2,113 stacks

DO NOW 9/24/14

Explain the difference between the independent variable and dependent variable in a science experiment?

Lab Report Format

1.Question (5 points)2.Form a Hypothesis (10 points)3.Materials used (10points)4.Experiment (step by step)(6 points) 5.include the following:

a. Independent Variable (1 point)b. Dependent Variable (1point)c. Control group (1point)d. Constants (1point)

6. Results – Graph or Data table (10 points)7. Conclusion-(fictional) (10points)

Smithers thinks that a special juice will increase the productivity of workers. He creates two groups of 50 workers each and assigns each group the same task (in this case, they're supposed to staple a set of papers). Group A is given the special juice to drink while they work. Group B is not given the special juice. After an hour, Smithers counts how many stacks of papers each group has made. Group A made 1,587 stacks, Group B made 2,113 stacks.

Identify the:

1. Control Group2. Which is the experimental group?3. Independent (Manipulated) Variable

4. Dependent (Responding) Variable

5. What should Smithers' conclusion be?

DO NOW

POP QUIZ (15min)

Homer notices that his shower is covered in a strange green slime. His friend Barney tells him that coconut juice will get rid of the green slime. Homer decides to check this out by spraying half of the shower with coconut juice. He sprays the other half of the shower with water. After 3 days of "treatment" there is no change in the appearance of the green slime on either side of the shower.

Identify the-1. Control Group2. Independent (Manipulated) Variable3. Dependent (Responding) Variable4. What should Homer's conclusion be?

1. What is happening to the garlic bulb after 5 days?

2. What liquid did they place the garlic bulb in?

DO NOW

Design an experiment consisting of a control and three different experimental groups to test the prediction, “Garlic grows better as the salt concentration of the solution in which it is grown increases.”

a)describe the control to be used in the experiment  

b)describe the difference between the three experimental groups  

c)state one type of measurement that should be made to determine if the prediction is accurate  

d)describe one example of experimental results that would support the prediction

Bart believes that mice exposed to radiowaves will become extra strong. He decides to perform this experiment by placing 10 mice near a radio for 5 hours. He compared these 10 mice to another 10 mice that had not been exposed. His test consisted of a heavy block of wood that blocked the mouse food. he found that 8 out of 10 of the radiowaved mice were able to push the block away. While only 3 out of 10 of the not radiowaved mice were able to do the same.Identify the following-1. Control Group2. Independent (Manipulated) Variable3. Dependent (Responding) Variable4. What should Bart's conclusion be?5. What can be done to improve this experiment?