Scientific Method
Review
State Standards:
Investigation and Experimentation
What the state expects:
Review notes
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The scientific method is a series of steps
that scientists use to answer questions and
solve problems.
Any information you gather through your
senses is an observation. Observations often
lead to questions or problems
A hypothesis is a possible explanation or
answer to a question. A good hypothesis is
testable
Review notes
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after you test a hypothesis, you should
analyze your results and draw conclusions
about whether tour hypothesis was supported.
Communicating your findings (data) allows
others to certify your results or continue to
investigate your problem.
A scientific theory is the result of many
investigations and many hypotheses that have
been supported over time.
Review notes
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Scientific models are representatives
of objects or systems. Models make
difficult concepts easier to understand.
Models can represent things too small
to see or too large to observe directly
Models can be used to test hypotheses
and illustrate theories
Definitions to Know
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scientific method: a series of steps that
scientists use to answer questions and
solve problems
hypothesis: a possible explanation or
answer to a question
data: any information that results from
experimentation
observation: any use of the senses to
gather information
Definitions to Know
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area: the amount of surface an object has
density: the amount of matter in a given space;
mass per unit volume (density = mass/volume)
volume: the amount of space that something
occupies or the amount of space that something
contains
mass; the amount of matter that something is
made of; does not change with the objects
location
Definitions to Know
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meter: the basic unit of length in the SI
system
temperature: the measure of how hot (or
cold) something is
control group: the part of a controlled
experiment that contains all of the same
variable and constants as the
experimental group but the independent
variable is NOT changed
Definitions to Know
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variable: any factor in a scientific
investigation that can have more than
one value. In an experiment it is what is
being tested AND measured
slope: a number describing how steep a
plotted line on a graph is; equal to the
rise divided by the run.
Scientific Method
Answers:
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3. F
4. A
5. C
6. B
7. E
8. D
Math In Science
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1. a cereal box has a mass of 340g. its
dimensions are 27cm x 19cm x 6 cm.
what is the volume of the box?
Math In Science
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1. a cereal box has a mass of 340g. its
dimensions are 27cm x 19cm x 6 cm.
what is the volume of the box?
Answer:
volume = 27cm x 19cm x 6cm =
3078 cm3
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Math In Science
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2. Each of two cement building blocks
has a volume of 2.5L. The mass of block
A is 5kg, and the mass of block B is 7kg.
find the difference in the densities of
the two blocks (density = mass / volume)
Answer:
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Block A: D= 5kg/2.5L = 2.0 kg/L
Block B; D= 7kg/2.5L = 2.8 kg/L
Block B is more dense than Block A;
the difference is 0.8 kg/L
Variables & Controls:
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3. Imagine that you are conducting an
experiment in which you are testing the
effects of the height of a ramp on the
speed at which a toy car goes down the
ramp.
What is the variable in this experiment?
What factors must be controlled?
Answer:
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The variable is the height of the
ramp.
Controlled factors include the type of
car, the material the ramp is made
of, and the point from which the car
is released.
Calculating Area:
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3.
a. A = 1/2 x 7m x 8m = 28 m2
b. A=12cm x 3cm = 36 cm2
c. 11m x 11m =121m2
d. A= 180 cm2 + 630 cm2 = 810 cm2
e. A= 1.05m2 + 10.5m2 + 5.25m2 = 16.8m2
Finding Volume:
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1.
a. V= 10m x 7m x5m = 350m3
b. V= 3.5cm x 3.5cm x3.5cm= 42.875cm3
c . V=0.25cm x 0.5cm x 3cm = 0.375cm3
d. 8 cm x 6cm x 300cm = 14,400 cm3
Challenge yourself:
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50m x 2.5m = 125 m2
2500m3 / 125 m2 = 20m
What is a Ratio?
1
2.
3.