The Scientic Method

The Scientic Method

Question/Problem Hypothesis Materials Method Observations Conclusion Evaluation Variables Bias Theory Law

Question/Problem

Why is it not working? A problem is something that you must nd an answer to. The problem must be able to be measured. (BrainPOP/Scientic Method) www.sciencebuddies.org

Inference/Hypothesis
An inference is a conclusion about the observations. What do you believe is happening? A hypothesis is an educated guess. A testable explanation of the details you observe. It must be able to help answer the question you started with. (BrainPOP/Scientic Method) www.sciencebuddies.org

Materials
The materials are the things that we use for an experiment. They are like the ingredients of a cake. Without them there would be no experiment at all.

Method/Experiment

Do an experiment to see if the hypothesis is correct or incorrect. Make sure the test is fair by making only one thing a variable. (BrainPOP/Scientic Method) www.sciencebuddies.org

Observations

What do you know about the problem? What can you see? e.g. The leaves are brown and the soil is soft and squishy. (BrainPOP/Scientic Method)

Conclusion
Look back at the test and observations and analyse to get an outcome or solution. If it does not support the hypothesis the hypothesis must be changed. (BrainPOP/Scientic Method) www.sciencebuddies.org

Evaluation
The evaluation is completed after the experiment. You must work out what you can do better. In other words you are doing a review. Mathew Mansell (my dad)

Variables
The thing that changes in the experiment. It is a factor, trait or condition that appears in different amounts. There are three types of variables, independent, dependent, and controlled. In every experiment you should only have one variable. (BrainPOP/Scientic Method) www.sciencebuddies.org

Bias
If you have a bias in a test it means that you're doing an unfair test. A bias can be on purpose or accidentally. A bias is changing the test so that you get the results that you want and not the real results. You should not aim to have a bias in your experiments because it will mean that the test is unfair. Ms. Saunders

Theory
An explanatory statement. Something conrmed through experiment. A theory can become scientic knowledge. (BrainPOP/Scientic Method)

Law
The law is a guess or statement that explains why something might happen. There are three types of laws, approximate, accurate and theories. The law explains a range of things that happen in nature. ! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Law_(science) !

Animal camouage !

Problem:
How does camouage affect our vision?!

Hypothesis:
People would choose the contrasting colour over the matching colour.! !

Materials:

Scissors, 1 A4 piece of 1 green paper, 1 A4 piece of a green paper cut in 1inch squares, 1 piece of brown paper cut in 1inch squares.!

Method:
1. Cut one page of the green paper and one page of brown paper into 1inch squares.! 2. Arrange the squares onto a piece of green paper.! 3. Give subjects 5seconds to grab as many pieces of paper as they can, limit subjects to picking up 1 piece at a time.! 4. Record how many green pieces and how many brown subject picks up.! 5. Tally the results.!

Conclusion:
In the end most people picked up the contrasting colour. Here are the results when we tested 9 people:!

Evaluation:!
If we did the experiment again I think we could improve it by testing more people and also by choosing colours that are closer together.!

Source:
thechive.com

Eggs-periment ! !

Problem:
How can I tell the difference between a cooked egg and a raw egg?!

Observations:
We tried putting the eggs in water but sadly...that didn't work. Then Rafael tried snifng them but that didn't work either. Finally, we tried shaking them and we are pretty sure that we could tell which one was the cooked egg....when we shook the eggs back and fourth.

Hypothesis:
A cooked egg will spin where a raw egg will not.

Materials:
Three eggs, two raw, one cooked. A hard surface.

Method:
Spin each of the eggs on a hard surface. Observe and record.

Observation:
Two eggs spun only very slowly and wobbled all over the surface. One of the eggs spun around very quickly and stayed in the one spot.!

Conclusion:!
When we did the experiment two of the eggs didn't really spin and one spun fast so I think that the one that spun quickly was the cooked egg because there was only one that spun fast and only one cooked egg.!

Evaluation:
We can repeat the experiment or we could use more raw eggs.

Source: !
www.angliafreerangeeggs.co.uk!

Surface tension!!

Problem:

Can a paperclip be held up by surface tension on the surface of different liquids?!

Observations:
So far, we have tried to see how many paper clips can be held up by surface tension on water at the same time. We did 17 so far.!

Hypothesis:!
I think that when we test with oil and dish washing detergent the paper clips will not oat. I think that they will sink to the bottom.!

Materials:
5 bowls, spoon, plastic cup, water, oil, dish washing detergent, paperclips.!

Method:
Bowl 1: ll half way with water.! Bowl 2: ll half way with oil.! Bowl 3: ll half way with water and then measure out 1/8th of a cup of oil. Add it to the bowl. Stir well.! Bowl 4: ll half way with water and then measure out 1/8th of a cup of detergent. Add it to bowl. Stir well.! Bowl 5: ll half way with water, measure out 1/8th of detergent. Pour in. Then measure 1/8th of oil. Add it. Stir we'll.! When you have nished that try placing paperclips in each bowl one at a time. Watch and record.! Repeat twice.!

Observation:!
We tried oating paperclips on the different liquids.

! Source: commons.wikimedia.org!

Conclusion:
In the end, when the experiment was done twice the only paperclips that would stay up we're the ones in the plain water. In the other bowls the paperclips sank, just as I thought.

Evaluation:
Next time we can use more or less of the amounts of liquids and we can also try different liquids.

Popcorn vs raisins

Problem:
Will popcorn or raisins oat in still water and carbonated water better.

Observations:
Carbonated water has bubbles. Popcorn is light and uffy. Raisins are wrinkly.

Hypothesis:
I think that the raisin will only oat on the carbonated water because it has bubbles to keep the raisins up. I also believe that the popcorn will only oat for 5mins on both types of water before sinking because it gets soggy.

Materials: Method:

Popcorn, raisins, lemon carbonated water, still water and 4 cups. Fill 2 cups up half way with carbonated water and 2 cups half way with still water.! In the 1st cup with still water, drop 3 raisins in. Wait 5mins...watch and observe.! In the 2nd cup with still water drop 3 popcorn pieces in. Wait 5mins...watch and observe.! In the 1st cup with carbonated water add three popcorn pieces. Wait 5mins...watch and observe.! Finally, add three raisins into the 2nd cup of carbonated water. Wait 5mins...watch and observe.! Write down the results.! Repeat the test again using different amounts of water for accurate results

Observation:

Conclusion:
We got half of our hypothesis wrong because we thought that the popcorn wouldn't oat at all because it would get too soggy and it got soggy, just didn't sink. The other part of our hypothesis was correct because the raisins in the lemon carbonated water oated and the normal water raisins sunk. We learned that popcorn's density is less than raisin density.! ! ! Evaluation: ! Next time we should use tweezers to put the popcorn and the raisins into the liquids so that it will be put in gently and we can also do the experiment using a longer time period. !

Sources:
Science Fair Projects: by Glen Vecchione/ page 179-180.! www.sheknows.com

Green house gas cows

Problem:
Will adding garlic to cow feed reduce the amount of methane produced by cows?

Hypothesis:
I think that adding garlic to cow feed will help because garlic is used to reduce the amount of gas produced for people.!

Materials:
10 cows ( same weight and size), cow feed (same), garlic, 2 large airtight tents.!

Method:
1. Place 5 cows in each tent.! 2. Feed each cow 25 pound of feed each day adding garlic to one tents food.! 3. Do this for 2 weeks.! 4. Take an air sample from each tent multiple times a day and test which one has the most methane.! 5. Complete test again with bigger or smaller cows.!

Source:
commons.wikimedia.org

Dirty stain!

Problem:! ! Which laundry detergent is the best? Hypothesis:

I think that ??? will be the best.

Materials:
25 white pieces of fabric, 25 blue pieces of fabric, 25 red pieces of fabric, ketchup, BBQ sauce, coffee, grass, sealed container, water, 5 different laundry dertergent. !

Method:
1. Stain 5 of each fabric with ketchup.! 2. Stain 5 of each fabric with BBQ sauce.! 3. Stain 5 of each fabric with coffee.! 4. Stain the last 5 of each fabric with grass.! 5. Fill the sealed container with water up to the top and add 2 tablespoons of detergent 1 and the white fabric with the ketchup stain.! 6. Shake well and look at result.! 7. Complete with the other 4 white and the 5 blue and 5 red pieces of fabric each time adding new water and detergent.! 8. With results use a points system ( 0= still stained, 1= slightly dark stain, 2= faint stain, 3= completely gone) and write it down.! 9. Complete the same steps with the BBQ sauce stain, coffee stain and grass stain fabrics.! 10. When nished with detergent 1 repeat with detergents 2, 3, 4 and 5 following the same steps. ! 11. When complete see which detergent has the most points, that is the best detergent.!

The Best Detergent Point System!!!

Source:
www.cafepress.co.uk! perfectcleaning.blogspot.com