Scientific Method Steps

Scientific Method Steps

1. Observe and ask a question.

-In this step, something must be observed, which leads to an asked question. -Ex: John observes that apple slices brown when left out in the air. He, then, decides to ask if lemon juice will slow down the browning process or if water will. -In the example above, John observed the apple browning, then asked what will prevent that more efficiently.

2. Form a hypothesis.

-In this step, the question must be answered with an educated guess , also known as, a hypothesis. -But, in order, for a hypothesis to be correct, it must be: *educated *testable *a guess -Ex: John decides to look at experiments and news articles, to see whether water prevents browning better or lemon juice prevents browning better, and he finds that lemon juice has prevented browning better in the majority of the resources he found. Based off of this, John hypothesises that the lemon juice will prevent browning better. -In the example above, John, first, decides to check resources to get some sort of an idea of which one might work better and with this information, he made an educated guess

3. Test the hypothesis.

-In this step, the hypothesis is tested to see whether it is correct or not, meaning that an experiment is carried out. -Ex: John starts to test his hypothesis by experimenting. He takes tow apple slices and cuts them evenly, so they're the same size. Then, he adds three drops of lemon juice to one slice and, then, adds three drops of water to the other. He, then, gives, both of them twenty-four hours to brown before he checks them. -In the example above, John tested his hypothesis to see whether he was right or not. -But, there was also a procedure, that explained how he tested this hypothesis. His procedure was clear and precise like all procedures should be, and that made it easy for anybody reading to test his hypothesis, too.

4. Make an observation.

-In this step, you observe your experiment to see what happened, to see if your hypothesis was correct or incorrect, etc. -Ex: John observed his apple slices after twenty-four hours have passed to find that the apple slice with water had browned more than the apple slice with lemon juice. -In the example above, John observed everything in the experiment that was a vital part of testing the hypothesis.

5. Record and analyse the results.

-In this step, the observations must be recorded in a way where the measurements are clear. -Since John observed both apple slices, he wrote, "Apple slice with water: mostly brown. Apple slice with lemon juice: slightly brown on the edges, but, mostly, white. -In the example above, John has observed and recorded his results in a way that the measure of which one browned more is clear. -But, he, also, needs to analyse his results to see if his hypothesis was correct. -Ex: John analysed his table and was able to find that the results showed that the apple slice with water browned more than the apple slice with lemon juice. -In the example above, John has successfully taken his recordings and used it to analyse his results.  

6. Draw Conclusions.

-In this step, using the hypothesis and results, a conclusion will be drawn, in which the hypothesis is concluded to be correct or not. -John looked back at his hypothesis and found that his results proved his hypothesis to be correct. So, he wrote, "My hypothesis that lemon juice will prevent browning better than water would is correct." -In the example above, John was able to state whether his hypothesis was right or wrong, thus answering his question, too.

7. Communicate the Results.

-In this step, the results that you have found can be shared. Whether with a friend, teacher, website, etc, and whether by telling, sending, writing, etc. -John typed up all of his results and decided to send it to his science teacher since he was learning about preservation at the moment. -In the example above, John was able to communicate  his results with his teacher.