Scientific Inquiry

How do scientists make progress in understanding the natural world?

1. Scientific inquiry is a step by step method which scientist use to get answers to testable questions they may have about the world around us.

2. Our example of this process will be to see whether there is a relationship between the air temperature and crickets’ chirping.

1. Scientific Inquiry often begins with a problem or question about an observation. Curiosity plays a large role in this type of thinking.

2. Some questions cannot be investigated by scientific inquiry.

1. Does my dog eat more food than my cat?2. Which makes a better pet-a cat or a dog?

1. Does my dog eat more food than my cat?2. Which makes a better pet-a cat or a dog?

3. The first question is a scientific question because it can be answered by making observations and gathering evidence.

4. The second question has to do with personal opinions or values.

5. Scientific inquiry can explore an event, test a theory, compare theories, or confirm results of an earlier investigation.

Which would make a good testable question?

Why?a. Do people enjoy the sounds of crickets?

b. Does the air temperature affect the chirping of crickets?

1. In science, a hypothesis must be testable. This means that researchers must be able to carry out investigations and gather evidence that will either support or disprove the hypothesis.

2. Many trials will be needed before a hypothesis can be accepted as true. A trial is an experiment repeated again.

Which is the best hypothesis for:Does the air temperature affect the

chirping of crickets?a. Perhaps crickets chirp more when the

temperature is higher.b. Air temperature affects the chirping of

crickets.

1. When you design your experiment you must gather the items you will need to do the experiment.

2. You will be making a controlled experiment, one where only one variable will be different.

3. You will need to identify your manipulated variable. (Temperature is it with our crickets.)

4. Define your terms for your experiment. 5. Understand how you are going to

measure your results.6. Set up your controlled experiment and

be prepared to record data.7. Your recorded data should be organized

so that you can determine the results of your experiment on a graph or table.

1. To test our hypothesis we will need to observe crickets at different temperatures.

2. All other variables include the kind of crickets, the type of container you test them in, and the type of thermometer you use.

3. By keeping all of these variables the same, we will know that any difference in cricket chirping must be due to temperature alone.

4. How are you going to control the manipulated variable?

5. Identify what your responding variable will be and determine how you are going to record this data.

6. Define what a “chirp” is for the counting of them. (Operational definition)

1. For your experiment, you need a data table in which to record your data.

2. A data table is an organized way to collect and record observations.

3. After the data have been collected, they need to be interpreted.

4. A graph can help you interpret data.

Make a table to collect your data.Trial one

Cool Room Temp Hot 15 C 20 C 25 C

Chirps per min. _____ _______ ______

Trial two Cool Room Temp Hot 15 C 20 C 25 C______ ______ ______

Continue your trials several time.

Take your new data and plot it on a graph to see how the three temperatures affected the chirping.

1. In drawing your conclusion ask whether the data support the hypothesis.

2. Also, did you collect enough data.3. After reviewing the data decide whether

the data supports your hypothesis.4. If your results do not support your

hypothesis, the experiment is valuable. It may lead to a different question and experiment.

What was the results of the experiment?

Did it support your hypothesis?

What other questions could you investigate about the chirping of crickets?

1. Scientist share their ideas in many ways.

2. They give talks a scientific meetings, exchange information on the internet, or publish articles in scientific journals.

3. Scientists are expected to describe their investigations in detail so others can try to repeat them.

You will have a Lab Report to fill out for each experiment we do this year to communicate your question, hypothesis, experiment set up, data collected and results.

This will be a grade each time.Let’s fill this one out together, so you

know how to do it in the future.

1. Curiosity2. Honesty3. Open-mindedness4. Creativity5. Skepticism: Is the claim specific? Is the

claim made by an expert in that subject? Is the claim based on evidence, not opinion? Is there enough evidence? Is this the best conclusion that can be drawn from the evidence.

Use your notes now to answer the following questions completely. Partial answers are wrong. Number your answers; leave an empty line between each answer. Do not copy the questions.

1. A friend claims that pea plants grow faster than corn plants. Could you investigate this idea through scientific inquiry? How?

2. What is meant by saying that a hypothesis must be testable? ->more

3. Every time you and your friend study for an exam while listening to classical music, both of you do well on the exam. What testable hypothesis can you develop from your observations?

4. What attitudes help scientists succeed in their work?

Done.