1. Define the scientific method. describe it.

2. List the steps and

The Scientific Method is a logical and rational order of steps by which scientists come to conclusions about the world around them. The Scientific Method helps to organize thoughts and procedures so that scientists can be confident in the answers they find. The steps of the Scientific Method are: 1. OBSERVATION: This step could also be called "research." It is the first stage in understanding the problem you have chosen. After you decide on your area of science and the specific question you want to ask, you will need to research everything that you can find about the problem. You can collect information on your science fair topic from your own experiences, books, the internet, or even smaller "unofficial" experiments. This initial research should play a big part in the science fair idea that you finally choose. For this stage of the Scientific Method, it's important to use as many sources as you can find. The more information you have on your science fair project topic, the better the design of your experiment is going to be, and the better your science fair project is going to be overall. Also try to get information from your teachers or librarians, or professionals who know something about your science fair topic. They can help to guide you to a solid experimental setup. 2. HYPOTHESIS: The next stage of the Scientific Method is known as the "hypothesis." This word basically means "a possible solution to a problem, based on knowledge and research." The hypothesis is a simple statement that defines what you think the outcome of your experiment will be. All of the first stage of the Scientific Method -- the observation, or research stage -- is designed to help you express a problem in a single question ("Does the amount of sunlight in a garden affect tomato size?") and propose an answer to the question based on what you know. The experiment that you will design is done to test the hypothesis. Using the example of the tomato experiment, here is an example of a hypothesis: TOPIC: "Does the amount of sunlight a tomato plant receives affect the size of the tomatoes?" HYPOTHESIS: "I believe that the more sunlight a tomato plant receives, the larger the tomatoes will grow. This hypothesis is based on: (1) Tomato plants need sunshine to make food through photosynthesis, and logically, more sun means more food, and; (2) Through informal, exploratory observations of plants in a garden, those with more sunlight appear to grow bigger.

3. PREDICTION /DESIGNING THE EXPERIMENT: The hypothesis is your general statement of how you think the scientific phenomenon in question works. Your prediction lets you get specific -- how will you demonstrate that your hypothesis is true? The experiment that you will design is done to test the prediction. An important thing to remember during this stage of the scientific method is that once you develop a hypothesis and a prediction, you shouldn't change it, even if the results of your experiment show that you were wrong. An incorrect prediction does NOT mean that you "failed." It just means that the experiment brought some new facts to light that maybe you hadn't thought about before. The judges at your science fair will not take points off simply because your results don't match up with your hypothesis. Continuing our tomato plant example, a good prediction would be: Increasing the amount of sunlight tomato plants in my experiment receive will cause an increase in their size compared to identical plants that received the same care but less light. 4. EXPERIMENT: This is the part of the scientific method that tests your hypothesis. An experiment is a tool that you design to find out if your ideas about your topic are right or wrong. It is absolutely necessary to design a science fair experiment that will accurately test your hypothesis. The experiment is the most important part of the scientific method. It's the logical process that lets scientists learn about the world. On the next page, we'll discuss the ways that you can go about designing a science fair experiment idea. 5. CONCLUSION: The final step in the scientific method is the conclusion. This is a summary of the experiment's results, and how those results match up to your hypothesis. You have two options for your conclusions: based on your results, either (1) you CAN REJECT the hypothesis, or (2) you CAN NOT REJECT the hypothesis. This is an important point. You can not PROVE the hypothesis with a single experiment, because there is a chance that you made an error somewhere along the way. What you can say is that your results SUPPORT the original hypothesis. If your original hypothesis didn't match up with the final results of your experiment, don't change the hypothesis. Instead, try to explain what might have been wrong with your original hypothesis. What information did you not have originally that caused you to be wrong in your prediction? What are the reasons that the hypothesis and experimental results didn't match up? Remember, a science fair experiment isn't a failure if it proves your hypothesis wrong or if your prediction isn't accurate. No one will take points off for that. A science fair experiment is only a failure if its design is flawed. A flawed

experiment is one that (1) doesn't keep its variables under control, and (2) doesn't sufficiently answer the question that you asked of it. Scientific method is a systematic approach to solving a problem by discovering knowledge, investigating a phenomenon, verifying and integrating previous knowledge. It follows a series of steps that evaluates the veracity or the feasibility of a prediction through research and experimentation from where the information obtained will be used as a basis in making conclusions. The fundamental steps of scientific method are: (1) Identifying the problem to solve (2) Formulating a tentative answer or hypothesis (3) Testing the hypothesis (4) Gathering and analyzing data (5) Making conclusions The scientific method is a systematic means of exploring and explaining the world around us. Experiments are an important part of the scientific method. Scientific Method Steps 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Make observations. Propose a hypothesis. Design and perform an experiment to test the hypothesis. Analyze your data to determine whether to accept or reject the hypothesis. If necessary, propose and test a new hypothesis.

details can become their own hypotheses (stated in null form) for further experimentation. It is easiest to test separate variables in separate experiments. In other words, don't test the effects of light and water at the same time until after you have tested each separately. Scientific Method Step 3: Design an Experiment : There are many different ways to test a single hypothesis. If I wanted to test the null hypothesis, 'the rate of grass growth is not dependent on quantity of light', I would have grass exposed to no light (a control group... identical in every way to the other experimental groups except for the variable being tested), and grass with light. I could complicate the experiment by having differing levels of light, different types of grasses, etc. Let me stress that the control group can only differ from any experimental groups with respect to the one variable. For example, in all fairness I could not compare grass in my yard in the shade and grass in the sun... there are other variables between the two groups besides light, such as moisture and probably pH of the soil (where I am it is more acidic near the trees and buildings, which is also where it is shady). Keep your experiment simple. Scientific Method Step 4: Test the Hypothesis: In other words, perform an experiment! Your data might take the form of numbers, yes/no, present/absent, or other observations. It is important to keep data that 'looks bad'. Many experiments have been sabotaged by researchers throwing out data that didn't agree with preconceptions. Keep all of the data! You can make notes if something exceptional occurred when a particular data point was taken. Also, it is a good idea to write down observations related to your experiment that aren't directly related to the hypothesis. These observations could include variables over which you have no control, such as humidity, temperature, vibrations, etc., or any noteworthy happenings. Step 5: Accept or Reject the Hypothesis: For many experiments, conclusions are formed based on informal analysis of the data. Simply asking, 'Does the data fit the hypothesis', is one way to accept or reject a hypothesis. However, it is better to apply a statistical analysis to data, to establish a degree of 'acceptance' or 'rejection'. Mathematics is also useful in assessing the effects of measurement errors and other uncertainties in an experiment. Hypothesis Accepted? Things to Keep in Mind: Accepting a hypothesis does not guarantee that it is the correct hypothesis! This only means that the results of your experiment support the hypothesis. It is still possible to duplicate the experiment and get different results next time. It is also possible to have a hypothesis that explains the observations, yet is the incorrect explanation. Remember, a hypothesis can be disproven, but never proven! Hypothesis Rejected? Back to Step 2: If the null hypothesis was rejected, that may be as far as your experiment needs to go. If any other hypothesis was rejected, then it is time to reconsider your explanation for your observations. At least you won't be starting from scratch... you have more observations and data than ever before!

If you are having trouble designing an experiment or even getting an idea for a project, start with the first step of the scientific method: make observations. Scientific Method Step 1: Make Observations: A lot of people think that the scientific method starts with forming a hypothesis. The reason for this misconception may be because many observations are made informally. After all, when you are looking for a project idea, you think through all of the things you have experienced (observations you have made) and try to find one that would be suitable for an experiment. Although the informal variation of Step 1 works, you will have a richer source of ideas if you pick a subject and write down observations until a test-able idea comes up. For example, let's say you want to do an experiment, but you need an idea. Take what is around you and start writing down observations. Scientific Method Step 2: Formulate a Hypothesis: A hypothesis is a statement that can be used to predict the outcome of future observations. The null hypothesis, or nodifference hypothesis, is a good type of hypothesis to test. This type of hypothesis assumes no difference between two states. Here is an example of a null hypothesis: 'the rate at which grass grows is not dependent on the amount of light it receives'. Even if I think that light affects the rate at which my grass grows (probably not as much as rain, but that's a different hypothesis), it is easier to disprove that light has no effect than to get into complicated details about 'how much light', or 'wavelength of light', etc. However, these