The Scientific Method
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Safety in the lab
Students must obey the laboratory rules
© Sheila Porter – SciFest@School
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Making
observations
Publishing your
results
Forming a
hypothesis
Carrying out
experiments
Accepting
Observing the
results
Forming a
theory
Rejecting
© Sheila Porter – SciFest@School
Key Skills
The Scientific Method develops and encourages:
 logical thinking, reasoning and the formation of
opinions and judgements based on evidence and
experiment
 planning and designing of experiments
 teamwork and communication
 manipulation of equipment
 the ability to measure and record data accurately
 lateral thinking
© Sheila Porter – SciFest@School
Syllabus Links
Investigative approach
Revised Junior Certificate Science Syllabus
Ref. 4. PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES IN SCIENCE –
INVESTIGATIONS
Investigations can be used to develop skills of logical thinking
and problem solving, and can give the student an insight into
the scientific process. Thus, the student can appreciate the
importance of using a fair test in order to arrive at valid
deductions and conclusions, and the significance of making
and recording measurements and observations accurately.
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The Hypothesis
1. Ask a Question:
How, What, When, Who, Which, Why, or Where?
2. Do Background Research:
This will help you to find the best way to do things and
insure that you don't repeat mistakes from the past.
3. a Hypothesis:
A hypothesis is an educated guess about how things work:
"If _____ , then _____ will ______." It should be based on your
research.
For example,
“If leaf colour is affected by temperature , then exposing plants
to different temperatures will change the colour of the leaves."
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Fair Test and Variables
• Independent Variable: This is the variable you will
change in your experiment.
• Dependent Variable: This is the variable that
changes as a result of the changes in the
independent variable.
• Controlled (Fixed) Variables: These are all the
things that you will keep the same in your
experiment.
© Sheila Porter – SciFest@School
Hypothesis: The more calcium chloride you add to water the
more the temperature increases
Independent Variable: This is the variable you will change in
your experiment
Mass of calcium chloride (g)
Dependent Variable: This is the variable that changes as a
result of the changes in the independent variable
Temperature of water (OC)
Controlled (Fixed) Variables: These are all the things that you
have to keep the same in your experiment
• Same volume of water (75 ml)
• Same time to dissolve (2 min)
• Constant stirring
© Sheila Porter – SciFest@School