Scientific Method

Making observation on phenomenon ㄴ phenomenon: a fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, especially one whose cause or explanation is in question - Questions generated that scientist may wish to answer - Devise a hypothesis to explain something about an observation ㄴ testable statement that describes how something in the natural world works.

Perform experiment to test hypothesis ㄴ Collect data to learn about phenomenon - Analyze results (data) ㄴ Often statistical, mathematical, and/or graphical methods - Draw conclusions ㄴ May support or reject hypotheses ㄴ Go on to test another related hypothesis or test a different hypothesis

Scientific Law: description of a pattern in nature that is true in all circumstances that have been studied; are universal and usually concise - Principles: Scientific ideas and explanations that are true in many, but not all situations in the universe - Theory: explanation for patterns in nature that is supported by much scientific evidence and verified multiple times by multiple researchers; withstood more rigorous testing and verification than hypotheses. - Both can still be changed by new discoveries at any time ㄴ Data said to “support” instead of “prove”

Independent Variable: the element/factor being changed; usually only one per experiment - Dependent Variable: the element/factor affected by the change - Constants/Controlled Variable/Group: every element/factor that is to remain constant and unchanging