Science Skills

Chapter 1

What is Science

Science– A system of knowledge and the methods you use to find that

knowledge– Remember: you must be able to observe and test something

for it to be science– There are 2 types of science

Pure Science– Studying something to just to learn more about it

Applied Science– Studying something in order to make it better or fix a problem

Technology– The practical use of scientific information

Branches of ScienceNatural Science

Physical Science

Earth and Space Science Life Science

Physics Chemistry

Physical Science- the study of matter and energy

The Big Ideas

Space and Time Matter and Change Forces and Motion Energy

Questions

What is the difference between pure science and technology?– Example of each

With a partner come up with 3 questions that could be answered with physical science.

Scientific Methods

Scientific Method– An organized plan for gathering, organizing, and

communication information– This method is the foundation of ALL modern science

Five Steps– Make Observations– Form a Hypothesis– Test your Hypothesis– Draw a Conclusion– Develop a Theory

The Scientific Method•Take a look around and see what is out there

end

The Scientific Method•If we observe something interesting, then we ask, why did that happen?•We then use our knowledge to make an educated guess that explains what we observed.

end

The Scientific Method

•After you create a hypothesis, you must test it to see if you were right.•You test by conducting an experiment

end

•When you finish your experiment, you have to look at the results.•If your results don't back up your hypothesis, then you change your hypothesis to fit your data.

end

•When the results of your experiment support you hypothesis, you still have more work to do.•You must continue to test the hypothesis over and over again.

end

The Scientific Method

•Eventually, after thousands of experiments and many years you take your results and develop a theoryend

Scientific Laws and Theories

Scientific Law– A statement summarizing a pattern found in

nature

Scientific Theory– A well-tested explanation for a set of observations

or experimental results

end

Scientific Notation

• In science, most number are either

REALLY BIG or REALLY SMALL!

– Like: 300,000,000 m/s or 0.00086 m/s– Or: 602,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 particles

• Since these numbers are so long, we use scientific notation to shorten them up

end

Scientific Notation

• Steps to writing a number in scientific notation:

• If the number is BIGGER than 1:– Find the decimal place– Move the decimal place to the LEFT, so that the

number is between 1 and 10• Remember to count the number of places you moved the

decimal!!!!!

– Write the new number• Make sure to have 1 number in front and at least 1 number

behind the decimal

– At the end add: x 10number of places end

Scientific Notation

• 300000000 = • 503 = • 10600 =• 60 = • 450 = • 7 =

3.00 x 108

5.03 x 102

1.06 x 104

6.0 x 101

4.50 x 102

7 x 100

end

Scientific Notation

• If the number is SMALLER than 1– Find the decimal place– Move the decimal place to the RIGHT, so that the

number is between 1 and 10• Remember to count the number of places you moved

the decimal!!!!!

– Write the new number• Make sure to have 1 number in front and 1 number

behind the decimal

– At the end add: x 10-number of places end

Scientific Notation

• 0.00086 = • 0.1 = • 0.00568 =• 0.048 = • 0.4 = • 0.0000000000459 =

end

8.6 x 10-4

1 x 10-1

5.68 x 10-3

4.8 x 10-2

4 x 10-1

4.59 x 10-11

Scientific Notation

• Steps to get a number OUT of scientific notation

• If the exponent is Positive move the decimal place to the Right– The number becomes bigger

• If the exponent is Negative move the decimal place to the Left– The number becomes smaller

end

Scientific Notation

• 5.35 x 103 =• 1.2 x 102 = • 5.67 x 104 = • 2.2 x 10-5 =• 5.6 x 10-2 = • 3.8 x 10-1 =

5350.

120.

56700.

0.000022

0.056

0.38

end

SI Units

• Scientists use a standard set of units for all measurements– These units are known as

the SI Units • (same thing as the metric

system)

What you are measuring

Unit Symbol

Length meter m

Mass kilogram kg

Temperature kelvin K

Time second s

Volume liter L

end

SI Unit Prefixes

• Would you try to measure the size of this class room in miles?– NO, you would use feet or maybe yards

• When you measure something you have to use the right tool– You wouldn’t use a jackhammer to build a house

• The SI units allow us to use the right tool by adding prefixes.

end

SI Unit Prefixes

• With the SI units you can convert between small and large measurements using:

King Henry Died By Drinking Chocolate Milk

end

SI Unit Prefixes

King Henry Died By Drinking Chocolate Milk

kilo hecto deca Base deci centi milli

k h da m/g/L/s d c m• To convert between prefixes:

– Find where you are starting and where you are going

– Count the number of places– Move the decimal in that direction the same number of

places

end

SI Unit Prefixes

• 35 mL = ___ L • 12 g = ___ mg• 25 cm = ___ mm• 4 L = ___ daL• 4500 mg = ___ g• 0.07 m = ___cm

end

Limits of Measurement

• When you measure something you have a certain number of digits in your answer

– 3.5 2 digits– 45.785 5 digits

• If you use your measurement in a calculation, – then your answer cannot have more digits than

your measurement

end

Limits of Measurement

• How many digits should each answer have?

– 2.45 + 44.5 =– 5.21 – 4.28 = – 35 x 45.89 = – 64 / 51.2 =

end

Temperature

• There are 3 scales used to measure temperature– Fahrenheit (°F): Used in the U.S.

– Celsius (°C): Used in all other countries in the world

– Kelvin (K): Used by scientists

• To convert between them, use the following:

)32(9

5 FC

end

32)(5

9 CF 273CK

Temperature

• Convert the following temperatures:– 26 °C = _____ °F– 98 °F = _____ °C – 34 °C = _____ K– 901 °C = _____ °F– 60 °F = _____ K

end

Temperature

Temperatures you should know:

°F °C K

Water Boils 212 100 373

Human Body 98.6 37 310

Room Temp 68 20 293

Water Freezes 32 0 273

end

Graphing

• When you graph:– Make sure you take up the whole graph paper

• No one like a super tiny graph

– Label the x- and y-axis• Remember to also put the units!

– Give your graph a title• (label of y-axis) vs. (label of x-axis)• Distance vs. Time Temperature vs. Time

end

GraphingDistance vs. Time

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Time (seconds)

Dis

tan

ce (

met

ers)

Time(seconds)

Distance(meters)

1 1

2 3

3 5

4 7

5 9

6 11

7 13

8 15

9 17

10 19

Independent Variable (x)

Dependent Variable (y)

Distance vs. Time

Time (seconds)

Dis

tanc

e (m

eter

s)

end

Observations

When you describe something you want to say everything there is to say about it– Color– Shape– Texture– Weight– Can you see through it– And anything else you can

see/touch/smell/hear/taste

end

Observations

With your partner pick an object in the room and list 10 observations.

end

Conducting an Experiment

When you do an experiment, you want to test 1 thing.This is called a controlled experiment

Controlled Experiment– Experiment in which only one thing is changed at

a time– How fast some moves at different temperatures– How fast a reaction happens if you add more

end

Conducting an Experiment

Independent Variable– Variable that causes a change in another– Goes on the x-axis of a graph

Dependent Variable– Variable that changes because of another– Goes on the y-axis of a graph

end

Models

• Models are a way to show something– Map

• Scientific Models– Used to represent things that are hard to see on

your own– An Earth rotating– An atom (which are too small to see!)

end

Science Pure Science

Applied Science Technology

Physical Science Scientific Method

Identify the Problem Hypothesis

Form a Conclusion Scientific Law

Scientific Theory Independent variable

Dependent variable Scientific model

Meter Kilogram

Kelvin Second

Liter 373 K

131 F 17.2 C

275 mm 0.0043 kg

0.008 5056

4.57x103 3.34x10-2

(6.3x102)(3.4x10-5) (3.4x10-5)/(2.1x106)