Newton’s 2nd Law Models and the Scientific Method 

Guided Notes 
Name: Date: Period

Some of the questions may require more thinking than others and might not be able to be filled out
immediately. Don’t get hung up on these, and answer what you can, and think about and discuss the
unanswered questions during the think-pair-share and class discussion times.
What are the six steps in the scientific method?
 Step 1:
 Step 2:
 Step 3:
 Step 4:
 Step 5:
 Step 6:
Why are the steps referred to as cyclic?

What have you seen in your personal experiences that you don’t
understand, and what question could you write about it?

What sites could you use for your background research?

What would be an example of a hypothesis (it doesn’t have to be scientific)?

What would be an example of a good prediction, and why?

What would be an example of a bad prediction, and why?

 What makes an experiment impractical?

How can we make an experiment which at first seems impractical, practical?

Sketch the Experiment Outline a simple practical experiment for your good prediction.

The Khan Academy audio/video said to test if the explanation was true.
What would be a better (more scientific) way of saying this?

Why is it important to never tamper with the data?

Why is it important to communicate the results of an experiment and what

they imply?

For the equation on the left, what would happen to z if x became larger with
an unchanging y?

For the equation on the left, what would happen to z if y became larger with
an unchanging x?
For the equation on the left, what would happen to z if x became larger with
an unchanging y and constant c?

For the equation on the left, what would happen to z if y became larger with
an unchanging x and constant c?

If we give a small stationary object like a hockey puck on ice a small push
(i.e. apply a small force) it will slide on the ice (acquire a non-zero velocity)
and will have accelerated.
What would happen to this acceleration if we gave the hockey puck a big
push?

What would happen to the acceleration if we gave a really big hockey puck
the same small push as in the first case?

Now, using all we have learned about our equations and thought experiment,
what two or three different/contradictory equations might explain our

thought experiment in terms of force  F  , mass  m  , and acceleration  a  ?


Once you have created your equations, look at the graph

you and your lab group are going to produce using the
data from your experiment on the left. Also, look over
these guided notes sheets and try to answer some of the
questions which you were not able to answer earlier.
After the lecture is finished, we will be doing a think-
pair-share and class discussion to fill out the remainder
of these questions.