Name_________________________________________
Hall_________
Date_____________
Ms. Sameroff
OBJECTIVE:
DO NOW
SWBAT describe the goals of science.
SWBAT describe procedures used in the scientific method.
VOCABULARY
ACTIVITY #1
Activity #2
Exit
1-1 What is Science? DAY 2
DO NOW
Explain the main idea of the cartoon.
What is the cartoonist opinion about the topic portrayed in the
cartoon? (e.g. What is the cartoonist's bias, or point of view on the
event or people in question)
2. Using your prior knowledge of biology put the following put the following steps of the scientific method in the
proper order.
________Research the problem
________Observe and record
________Make a hypothesis
________Identify the problem
________Arrive at a conclusion
________Test the hypothesis
VOCABULARY
Directions: Use your worksheet to define the following words.
Scientific
Method
Control
Group
Hypothesis
Independent
Variable
Dependent
Variable
ACTIVITY #1-STEPS IN THE SCIENTIC METHOD
1
Read the excerpt below and answer the questions that follow
A Safer Cigarette?
The electronic cigarette, an item that can satisfy a smoker’s nicotine craving without
burning tobacco, has been on the market for over three years now. This device has not yet been
linked to cardiac disease, cancer, nor chronic respiratory disorders, which are a part and parcel of
tobacco cigarettes. An e-cigarette consists of a rechargeable battery as well as a small cartridge
which contains liquid nicotine. The battery is used to heat the cartridge, which in turn allows the
liquid nicotine to turn into a water vapor.
Though makers of the e-cigarette often herald their product as a much healthier alternative,
local researchers are interested in determining whether this new fad is actually a fast track to
becoming strongly addicted to nicotine. They have designed an experiment including 10,000
cigarette smokers, 5,000 of which were asked to switch over to the e-cigarette. The researchers
plan to monitor how many cigarettes the people in each group smoke per day. The data from this
experiment will allow the researchers to conclude whether the e-cigarette causes an increase in
smoking, indicating a greater extent of addiction.
1. State the hypothesis that local researchers are testing____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
2. Identify the independent variable in the experiment _____________________________________________
3. Identify the dependent variable in the experiment ______________________________________________
4. Why did the experiment include 5,000 smokers who were not using the e-cigarette?
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
2
ACTIVITY #2
3
Think-Pair-Share
A scientist conducted an experiment to test whether maple seeds exposed to acid rain will take longer to grow than
seeds exposed to normal rain. The scientist set up four groups. The water used for each group had a different pH value:
5.6, 4.0, 3.0, and 2.0. Normal rain has a pH of 5.6 and acid rain has a pH between 1.5 and 5.0. After ten days, the
number of seeds that had germinated (grown) in each group was counted.



State the hypothesis for the experiment
Identify the control group in the experiment
Identify the experimental group in the experiment
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
EXIT TICKET
Why do we use the scientific method?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
After the lesson, now I understand…
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Something I still need help with…
___________________________________________________________________________________________
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