Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
The first part of our course in 8th Grade Science is to make sure that THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS (or
METHOD) is well understood and so can be the guide for almost everything else you do this year.
OBSERVATION
QUESTION(S)
RESEARCH
HYPOTHESIS
INVESTIGATION
RESULTS
ANALYSIS
CONCLUSION
EVALUATION
COMMUNICATION
So ….. let’s try following the SCIENTIFIC METHOD with a lab …………………….turn over the page
OBSERVATION
Water is amazing! AMAZING! It has some remarkable properties, which benefit us all. One of those
properties is that water molecules stick together and form drops.
QUESTION
I wonder how many drops of water could be ‘stacked’ on a 1 cent coin and how many can be 'stacked' on a
plastic counter the same size as the coin?
RESEARCH
Now is a good time to try to find out why water forms into drops. Internet? Books? Ask someone? And
perhaps research an answer to the question.
HYPOTHESIS
By now you might have a fair idea of what you expect, so you make a hypothesis and justify it, using your
research information. Do not be worried that you might reject the hypothesis after you investigate it!
RESULTS
You should have a results table prepared before you start the investigation so that you only need to
complete the table as you carry out the investigation.
CONCLUSION
This is a simple statement. “The hypothesis is SUPPORTED (or REJECTED) because ………….”. The
“because” part is derived from the analysis of the results. Mostly we reject hypotheses! But this is good
because we can look for a different explanation.
EVALUATION
Now look critically at everything you have done.
1. Find at least three aspects of the whole process which possibly led to unreliable results.
2. Suggest ways to make improvements to the process, to ‘correct’ the unreliable results.
3. Recommend some follow-up questions for investigation.
COMMUNICATE
Present your investigation and its findings and conclusions.