Scientific Method

Steps of the Scientific Method

Scientific Method
•The scientific method is a process for
experimentation that is used to
explore observations and answer
questions.
 Steps of the Scientific Method
• 1. Ask a Question
• The scientific method starts when you ask a
question about something that you observe:
How, What, When, Who, Which, Why, or
Where?
• For a science fair project some teachers
require that the question be something you
can measure, preferably with a number.
 Steps of the Scientific Method
• 2. Do Background Research
• Rather than starting from scratch in putting
together a plan for answering your
question, you want to be a savvy scientist
using library and Internet research to help
you find the best way to do things and
ensure that you don't repeat mistakes from
the past.
 Steps of the Scientific Method
• 3. Construct a Hypothesis
• A hypothesis is an educated guess about how things
work. It is an attempt to answer your question with an
explanation that can be tested. A good hypothesis allows
you to then make a prediction:
"If _____[I do this] _____, then _____[this]_____ will
happen."
• State both your hypothesis and the resulting prediction
you will be testing. Predictions must be easy to measure.
Steps of the Scientific Method
• 4. Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
• Your experiment tests whether your prediction is
accurate and thus your hypothesis is supported or
not. It is important for your experiment to be a fair test.
You conduct a fair test by making sure that you
change only one factor at a time while keeping all
other conditions the same.
• You should also repeat your experiments several
times to make sure that the first results weren't just an
accident.
Steps of the Scientific Method
• 5. Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
• Once your experiment is complete, you collect your
measurements and analyze them to see if they support your
hypothesis or not.
• Scientists often find that their predictions were not accurate
and their hypothesis was not supported, and in such cases
they will communicate the results of their experiment and
then go back and construct a new hypothesis and prediction
based on the information they learned during their
experiment. This starts much of the process of the scientific
method over again. Even if they find that their hypothesis
was supported, they may want to test it again in a new way.
Steps of the Scientific Method
• 6. Communicate Your Results
• To complete your science fair project you will
communicate your results to others in a final report
and/or a display board. Professional scientists do
almost exactly the same thing by publishing their final
report in a scientific journal or by presenting their
results on a poster or during a talk at a scientific
meeting. In a science fair, judges are interested in
your findings regardless of whether or not they support
your original hypothesis.
Reference
• Science Buddies. 2012. “Steps of the Scientific Method.” Science
Buddies. Science Buddies. June 7, 2012.
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/science-fair/ste
ps-of-the-scientific-method
.