Name ___________________
1. Read the scientific method packet
2. Using a highlighter, highlight any words you did not immediately know. Use the
space below to write down three of these previously unknown words and give a
definition for each.
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• __________________________________________________________________
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3. Grace is a marine biologist who hypothesized that squid would swim faster in warm
water than in cold water. She conducted her experiment following the scientific
method. Her data did not support her hypothesis; the squid swam at the same rate
despite the change in the water temperature. What should Grace do next?
4. Why is the research collection (background information) part of the scientific method
so important?
5. A researcher wants to know if a person’s mood can be improved by taking an herbal
vitamin each day. Propose a hypothesis that could be used to begin to investigate
this question.

6. How Penicillin Was Discovered
In 1928, Sir Alexander Fleming was studying Staphylococcus bacteria growing in culture dishes. He noticed that a mold called Penicillium was also growing in some of the dishes. A clear area existed around the mold because all the bacteria that had grown in this area had died. In the culture dishes without the mold, no clear areas were present.
Fleming hypothesized that the mold must be producing a chemical that killed the bacteria. He decided to isolate this substance and test it to see if it would kill bacteria.
Fleming transferred the mold to a nutrient broth solution. This solution contained all the materials the mold needed to grow. After the mold grew, he removed it from the nutrient broth. Fleming then added the nutrient broth in which the mold had grown to a culture of bacteria. He observed that the bacteria died which was later used to develop antibiotics used to treat a variety of diseases.
• Identify the problem:
• What was Fleming's hypothesis?
• How was the hypothesis tested?
• Should the hypothesis be supported or rejected based on the experiment?

Use what you know about the scientific method to number each paragraph below from one to six with one being the part that occurred first. Underline one word in each paragraph that helped you determine which step of the scientific method the scientist was using.
______ Dr. Eijkman did some research and found that people with the disease could not
eat and became paralyzed. He also found that the disease was not caused by
bacteria. He learned that chickens who ate polished rice instead of whole grain
rice were getting BeriBeri disease.
______ Dr. Eijkman recorded that only chickens that ate polished rice during his test got
sick.
______ Dr. Eijkman made an educated guess, “If polished rice is missing some
important substance, then the lack of this substance could be causing the disease.”
______ In 1897, a strange nerve disease attacked the people in the Dutch East Indies.
The disease was BeriBeri disease. A scientist named Dr. Eijkman wondered
why everyone was getting sick, even the chickens.
______ Dr. Eijkman tested his idea by giving one group of chickens polished rice and
another group whole grain rice.
______ Dr. Eijkman decided that the way to prevent BeriBeri disease was for people to
eat whole grain rice since polished rice lacked some important nutritional
substance.