The Scientific Method

A hypothesis is a statement that answers the question, or provide a tentative explanation to why the observed event occurred.

Variables: Independent, dependent & controlled variables.

Independent - is the variable which the experiment is designed to test.

Dependent - is the variable which the experiment is designed to measure.

Controlled - are the factors which must be controlled in the experiment so that they will not affect the outcome.

Step 1: Choosing the Best Science Project Topic 

• The project topics you consider should be things that interest and excite you.

So what excite you?

•  Think about something you like to do. What would you like to find out about it? Think about the who, what, when, and where of the activity. Who can you do the activity with?

• What were the interesting questions that you thought of when studying the various science module in Year 1 and Year 2 this year.

• After you have a general sense of what interests you, it is time to get specific.

• If you need help for ideas, visit the various videos in this site or do a search on Science Projects. Find ideas that line up with that general sense of what you have in mind and then choose the best topic for you.

Step 2: Choose the Best Topic for You 

• When choosing possible science project topics you should keep in mind that originality counts. Use the resources mentioned in Step 1 to find a topic that is uniquely your own.

• Your project should be original and focus on discovering something new or improving on something known. One way to ensure that your science investigative project is original is to have a very specific topic. For instance, let's suppose you use National Geographic and see a fascinating article about worms. You've always been interested in the creepy crawlies so you want to find out whether worms are disturbed by vibration and how people use this to catch giant earthworms from the ground.

Step 3: Research 

•        Researching your science investigative project topic is the third step.
•       After you have chosen a topic, you must become a detective seeking to uncover all the information you can about your topic.
•       Researching your science investigative project involves finding out everything you can about the scientific principles involved with it.
•       Use reliable and available resources for researching your science project. (This does not include wikepedia)
•      Tip: The most helpful thing that you can do when researching your project is to take excellent notes for your research project

Step 3a: Research - Note Taking Tips 

• Notes are an essential part of doing a science fair project.
• To keep track of your research, bring a notebook or Mac with you when you visit your local library. Record references for the books and other materials you have used in your research.
• Keep complete and accurate notes about the books and articles you find, such as:

* Author(s)
* Title
* Source for journals: Journal Title, volume, issue, date and pages of the article
* Source for books: Publisher, place of publication, date and number of pages in the book
* Title of a conference/symposium, the place and date(s)

• Take notes on simple experiments on which to base your experiment.
• Keep notes on diagrams used in similar experiments.
• Record observations from other experiments.
• Keep notes on samples of logs and other means for collecting data.
• Make lists of materials that you might need to source for your trial experiment.
• You have decided on your topic of interest, and have stated your aim of your investigation. You have researched on the scientific principles of your investigation.
• You must now form a hypothesis about your investigation, so that you can work to support it and prove that it is correct, or refute it and prove that it is wrong.

Step 4: Designing Science Experiments 

The experiment you design must effectively test your hypothesis.

When designing your experiment you want to make sure you follow the scientific method. The scientific method involves the following steps:

1.     Observation - observe something that interests you                           

2.     Question - formulate a question about what you have observed

The first two steps you have already done by making observations and coming up with a topic and specific question for your science project. (Recall step 1 & 2)

The topic and question tell what it is that you are trying to discover or accomplish in your project. Once you have your question, you must decide how you can best answer it.

Will you need to do an experiment or fieldwork? 

• 3.     Hypothesis - prediction or educated guess on what you expect will happen.If you need to observe things as they are in nature, you will need to do fieldwork.
• If you need to observe things in a controlled environment, you will need to design an experiment. When preparing to do research, a scientist must form a hypothesis, which is an educated guess about a particular problem or idea, and then work to support it and prove that it is correct, or refute it and prove that it is wrong. Whether the scientist is right or wrong is not as important as whether he or she sets up an experiment that can be repeated by other scientists, who expect to reach the same conclusion. 

The value of variables

Experiments must have the ability to be duplicated because the "answers" the scientist comes up with (whether it supports or refutes the original hypothesis) cannot become part of the knowledge base unless other scientists can perform the exact same experiment(s) and achieve the same result; otherwise, the experiment is useless.

"Why is it useless," you ask? Well, there are things called variables. Variables vary: They change, they differ, and they are not the same.

A well-designed experiment needs to have an independent variable and a dependent variable.

• The independent variable is what the scientist manipulates in the experiment.

• The dependent variable changes based on how the independent variable is manipulated. Therefore, the dependent variable provides the data for the experiment.

• Specify the materials needed
• Specify quantity
• Assumptions
• Limitations
• Conclusion