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DOING EXPERIMENT
S6th grade scientific Inquiry
Lesson 5
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ESSENTIAL QUESTIONHow do scientists investigate the natural
world?
What is scientific Inquiry?
How are experiments designed and conducted?
What are some other types of scientific investigations?
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WHAT IS SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY? Scientific Inquiry refers to the
diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence they gather.
Rachel Carson-water toxins
Rosland Franklin-DNA x-rays
Jane Godall –animal observations
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PAGE 35PROPOSING A QUESTION
Questions are an essential part of science. But scientific questions are limited to the natural world.
The objects may be either living or nonliving things.
What makes a question scientific is that it can be answered by observations, or evidence.
“What is the relationship between . . .” “What factors cause . . .” “What is the effect of . . .”
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PAGE 36DEVELOPING A HYPOTHESIS HYPOTHESIS – The Expected Results. The
investigator poses the question in such a way that it can be tested.Alternative hypothesis -Abbreviated Ha.
Null hypothesis – Opposite of the Expected Results. The opposite of the Alternative hypothesis. Stated in terms of " expected results not occurring”. Abbreviated Hb.
Try to word each of your hypotheses in the form of an If... then ... statement.
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PAGE 36 What are the two hypotheses that might answer this question: Why does it take the school bus longer to get to school on a Monday compared to a Friday?
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PAGE 37 VARIABLES A VARIABLE IS A FACTOR THAT CAN CHANGE IN AN EXPERIMENT
Manipulated
Response
IndependentIs purposely
changed to test the
hypothesis.
Dependent
Changes in response to
the independent variable
Controlled
Consistent
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PAGE 37 APPLY IT!
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PAGE 38SETTING UP A CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT
An experimental plan is not complete unless the experimenter controls all other variables.
Controlling variables means keeping all conditions the same except for the manipulated variable.
Most common types of variables: time, temperature, length, width, height, mass, volume, number, and kinds of substances being used in the experiment.
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PAGE 38 SETTING UP A CONTROLLED EXPERIMENT
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PAGE 39 COLLECTING & INTERPRETING DATA
Organize the data into a table or arrange the data in a specific order, such as largest to smallest.
Make a graph of the data. Look for trends or patterns in the
data or graph.
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PAGE 40 DRAWING CONCLUSIONS Refer to the hypothesis for your
experiment. Review the observations in your
experiment. Analyze the data. Determine whether your data support
your hypothesis or suggest that it is false.
Consider whether you might plan other experiments to support your conclusion or compare your work with that done by other researchers.
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PAGE 41 COMMUNICATING
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PAGE 42 OBSERVATIONAL RESEARCH OPINION-BASED RESEARCH
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HOMEWORK Complete Lesson 5 Assess Your Understanding pg page 36,
41, 43. Review and Assessment Page 45-46 #1-
19 Florida Benchmarks Review page 47 #1-7
1st chance to hand in Chapter 1 Wednesday2nd/last chance to hand in Chapter 1 Thursday
Vocabulary Study Sheet 9/5 Vocabulary Quiz on Friday Back to School Night 9/23
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HOW TO MAKE A NUTELLA
SANDWICH!
An exercise in WRITING PROCEEDURES
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LET’S DO AN EXPERIMENT!Which cup of seeds will grow the fastest? The one with less or more competition?
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BACKGROUND INFORMATIONPlants make their own food using photosynthesis, so they do not compete for food. Plants do compete for: light, water, space and minerals
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PROBLEM STATEMENT Which cup of seeds will grow the fastest? The one with less or more competition?
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CONTROLS
•Same cup size•Same type of seeds•Same amount of soil•Same type of soil•Same amount of water•Same amount of light
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MANIPULATED / INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
The number of seeds competing in each cup
Cup #2Per. __Group __
Cup #3Per. __Group __
Cup #1Per. __Group __
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DEPENDENT VARIABLE Speed of seedling growth
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HYPOTHESIS If ……….. then……… If ……….. then………
Alternative hypothesis -, and actually the statement of interest. Abbreviated Ha.
Null hypothesis - The opposite of the Alternative. Stated in terms of " expected results not occurring” . Abbreviated Hb.
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MATERIALS LIST 3 Cups Soil 12 Lima bean seeds Water/ pipette Light source Marker Metric Ruler
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PROCEDURE STEPS Label 3 cups- cup #, period, group name Equal amount of soil into each cup 2 seeds in cup #1 4 seeds in cup #2 6 seeds in cup #3 Equal amount of water in each cup Equal amount of light exposure Record seedling growth over a 10-14
day period by measuring tallest seedling in each cup.
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RESULTS Data table Line Graph with 3 lines
Date Cup#1 Cup #2 Cup#3
Seedling Growth in cm
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HOMEWORK 2nd Chance Chapter 1-Thursday Last Chance to hand in Chapter 1 Friday Vocabulary Study Sheet 9/5 Vocabulary Quiz on Friday Back to School Night 9/23
Make-Up Quiz Monday Morning
before school or during homeroom
Line Graphing Directions
1. Use the data from the table to choose an appropriate scale. All scales usually start at 0
2. X-axis and Y-axis. Line graphs are used when examining relationships between two types of information.
3. The dependent variable is plotted on the Y-axis and usually measures quantity (percentage, length, liters, etc.).
4. The independent variable is plotted on the X-axis and usually measures time.
5. Locate the points on the graph. Plotting data points “RUN & JUMP”
6. Connect the points with line segments.7. Include a title and labels on the graph.
LET’S PRACTICE
Y
X
TIME
MEA
SU
RIN
G
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LAB ANALYSIS – CONCLUSIONCOMPETITION IN PLANTS (AT THE END)
Lab Questions:
1) Which plants grew the fastest? Did this support or disprove your hypothesis? Explain.
2) What were some problems we had over the entire course of this lab? How did you resolve them?
3) How could we improve this lab procedure if we repeated the experiment?
4) What is a new question this lab makes you think of? How would you test it?
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HOMEWORK Last Chance to hand in Chapter 1 Friday Vocabulary Study Sheet 9/5 Vocabulary Quiz on Friday Back to School Night 9/23
Make-Up Quiz Monday Morning
before school or during homeroom