Monday, September 8th, 2014

Daily Objective: By the end of today, I should be able to…

• Make scientific observations• Create a testable question

Entrance Activity:Please answer the following questions in your

notebook:1. What is the difference between a testable

question and an opinion or informational question? 2. Think of one TESTABLE QUESTION that you

have investigated in your life and write it down

SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Observing and Asking Questions

– Scientific investigations begin with observation, the act of noticing and describing events or processes in a careful, orderly way.

– For example, researchers observed that marsh grass grows taller in some places than others. This observation led to a question: Why do marsh grasses

grow to different heights in different places?

Inferring and Forming a Hypothesis

– After posing questions, scientists use further observations to make inferences, or logical interpretations based on what is already known.

– Inference can lead to a hypothesis, or a scientific explanation for a set of observations that can be tested in ways that support or reject it.

–

Making Observations

• Groups• Bugs

Testable ????????? ‘s

• Only tests one particular thing…– MANIPULATED VARIABLE or INDEPENDENT

VARIABLE• The thing you deliberately change…

Growing GrassWhat is their testable question?What is their manipulated variable?

WS practice

Tuesday, September 9th, 2014

Have your Scientific method sheets out on your desk please!Daily Objective: By the end of today, I should be able to…

• Write a hypothesis and procedure for a controlled experimentEntrance Task:

Please read the following scenario and then answer the questions that follow:Patrick notices that his shower is covered in a strange green slime. His friend Spongebob tells him that coconut juice will get rid of the green slime. Patrick decides to check this out by spraying half of the shower with coconut juice. He sprays the other half of the shower with water. After 3 days of "treatment" there is no change in the appearance of the green slime on either side of the shower.1. What is the Manipulated variable?2. What is the Responding variable?3. List 4 controlled variables.

Dependent/Responding variable

• The DV/RV is the variable that is observed or measured in response to what you changed…

Back to the grass……..

What are the scientists watching for? What is the Dependent/Responding Variable in this experiment?

EVERYTHING ELSE MUST BE STANDARDIZED!!

• All other factors are controlled or standardized so that if a change is observed, it can be connected to the one variable you changed.

• More grassy questions:– What were some controlled variables?

What questions can we test with the Pillbugs?

• PAGES 3 and 4 in your packet and with your group.

Treatment Side 1 Side 2

Light vs. Dark Leave it alone Place a piece of paper over the top, and secure with tape.

Wet vs. Dry

Cut a piece of paper towel the size of the bottom of the cup and place it in the cup.

Cut a piece of paper towel the size of the bottom of the cup, add water and ring out until just damp, place in the bottom of the cup.

Acidic vs. Neutral Soil Measure an amount of soil, place it in the cup, and add 5-10 drops of water.

Measure the same mass of soil, place it in the cup, and add 5-10 drops of vinegar.

Dirt vs. Plain Cup Leave it alone Add dirtFood Preference(option 1: carrot vs. potato)(option 2: cooked vs. raw potato)

Add a 1cm3 piece of one kind of food

Add a 1cm3 piece of the other kind of food

Carpet vs. Sandpaper Cut a piece of sand paper the size of the bottom of the cup and place it in the cup

Cut the bottom out of your cup

HYPOTHESIS

• a special kind of prediction that forecasts (predicts) how changing one part of an experiment will affect the results. • It is NOT a guess. • It is an informed and well-thought out prediction that requires background information

• “If ______________, then _____________, because__________________.” format.

After the “if” is the part the scientist will change on purpose. After the “then” is the predicted result of the change. After the “because” is a logical SCIENTIFIC reason for why the scientist is predicting what he or she is predicting.

IF (MV) Then (RV) Because (SCIENCE!!!!) PAGES 4 and 5 of packet

Wednesday, September 10th, 2014

Have your Scientific Method sheets out on your desk please!

Daily Objective: By the end of today, I should be able to…

• Write a procedure and create a data table Entrance Task:

In your notebook, please describe what experiment we are conducting tomorrow in 2-3 sentences.

In your notebook…

Rolly Polly Behavior Preference Lab

Testable question:

Manipulated Variable:

Responding Variable:

Writing a procedure You should be writing a procedure that someone else

could use to answer your investigative question.

To Start…

State your controlled, manipulated, and responding variables in a way that describes how they are set up

Controlled: at least 2Manipulated: at least 3 conditionsResponding: ONLY 1

Describe what data you will be collecting, and how you will collect it.

Describe how you will RECORD data (separate idea)

Repeat data collection in TRIALS!!• What are trials?• Why do we have more trials?

Describe Experimental Control Condition

• An experimental setup with NO MANIPULATION or change so that you can compare your experiment to it.

Add an extra Validity measure Describe another way in which you can

make your results more reliable or reproducible

LOGICAL!!

Data Table

What could we add to this?

Time (minutes)

# of bugs in chamber one (treatment)

# of bugs in chamber two (treatment)

0

1

2

3

4

5

Etc.to 15

Thursday, September 12th, 2013

Daily Objective: By the end of today, I should be able to…

• Write a conclusion for a scientific investigation

• Complete a data table

Entrance Task:1. What did you notice from your

experiment yesterday?2. What type of graph could you use to

display your data?

What should be in a graph?Title

• Labels on axis with units

• RV on the Y

• Key for the 2 groups

ALWAYS USE A RULER

ALWAYS GIVE YOURSELF ENOUGH SPACE

Let’s make graphs for our data…

Title

• Labels on axis with units

• MV on the Y

• Key for the 2 groups

Monday, September 15th, 2014

Daily Objective: By the end of today, I should be able to…

• Demonstrate my knowledge of the scientific method

Entrance Task:YOU DO NOT NEED TO WRITE THIS TODAY!!

1. Please have out your rolypoly data and graph. Check to be sure that it has all 4 required items present please.

TO INCLUDE IN A CONCLUSIONEOC

•

1. Conclusive Statement – correctly answers the experimental question (or correctly states whether the hypothesis/prediction was correct)

2. Supporting Data - lowest condition of the changed variable

3. Supporting Data - highest condition of the changed variable

4. Explanatory Language – used to connect or compare the supporting data to the conclusive statement

5. Scientific Explanation – provides a plausible scientific reason that explains the trend seen in the data table in terms of established scientific knowledge

Write your own conclusion for your Rolypolys• Review procedure• Review conclusion

• Reading assignment! Pages 10-15 in your book…• ANSWER #’s 2-4 on page 15 ON A SEPARATE

SHEET OF PAPER