Before we begin, you'll need to understand some vocabulary.
· Variables
are the different factors that can change in an experiment – there are 3 types
of variables:
o
Independent
variable – the variable that we change or plan to change before we start
the experiment. "I" change it.
o
Dependent
variable – the variable that we measure, or that is changed by the
experiment - it "Depends" on the experiment. (D can also stand for Data)
o
Constant
– variables that do not change or that we keep the same through the entire
experiment.
·
Controls
are the standard experimental result that we are comparing all of our results
to.
·
Experiments
should be repeated several times to be considered valid results!
Hypotheses are educated predictions or
guesses about the outcome of an experiment
Experimental Errors – errors that make
the experiment not valid or affect outcomes.
Scientific Theories – an explanation or
model backed by results obtained from many tests or experiments
Scientific Law – a rule that describes
the behavior of something in nature
Now, let's look at the process. Let's imagine you were getting curious about something you had observed while riding the bus to school. The basic outline for the Scientific Method is this:
You'll notice the order is as follows:
Identify a problem
Gather information (research)
Make Hypothesis
Test the Hypothesis
(experiment)
Analyze the Results
Draw Conclusion
So let's say you had noticed that every time the bus came over the top of a specific hill, the dog that lived at the house at the top of the hill would start barking at the bus. Your initial observation is that the dog doesn't like the bus. You could state the problem this way- "The bus seems to be irritating to the dog which makes him bark. I wonder if it's the color?"
Now that you have created a problem, you could proceed on to something that is testable - so let's think about something to do with the color. You could decide to test
