Scientific Method Worksheet(1)

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Jefferson State Community College *

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Chemistry

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Jan 9, 2024

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Laboratory Assignment 1 Introduction to the Scientific Method – 10 points SKILLS YOU WILL PRACTICE IN THIS LABORATORY EXERCISE: FORMING A HYPOTHESES (MAKING PREDICTIONS) Suggesting ideas about how something will happen COLLECTION & ORGANIZING DATA. Recording factual information· Organizing information to facilitate analysis of your data SUMMARIZING Selecting only those facts which are key or pertinent GENERALIZING Draw a conclusion about a group based on information derived from a sample INTERPRETING Making statements supported by the data Recognizing the limitation of a sample size Incorporating other people’s viewpoints CONTENT FOCUS What is science? What do scientists do all day? These are not easy questions for most you to answer. The widespread idea of a nerd in a white lab coat does not apply to most scientists. So, what are scientists really like? They all have the three Cs" in common. Just as you are curious, scientists are CURIOUS about the world around them. They ask questions about everything and science is a method for answering those questions. Scientist do not accept things without COLLECTING information. All the facts relating to a problem or a question must be carefully explored and checked for accuracy. Scientists are COMFORTABLE with new concepts. If a better explanation can be found, scientists are not afraid to give up old ideas for new ones. To make the three Cs happen, scientist have developed a series of steps in investigation called the SCIENTIFIC METHOD. Through trial and error, the scientific method has proven to be an efficient and effective way to attack a problem. You have probably used some version of the scientific method many times in your life without being aware of the steps you were following.

ACTIVITY 1 -FORMING HYPOTHESIS: DARING TO BE WRONG Preparation A problem can come to your attention in several ways. Someone may assign you a problem, the problem may thrust itself upon you, or you may discover the problem by simply being curious about something you have seen. Let us begin with a simple situation that you might face in any day. THE PROBLEM You drive to school and park in your usual spot. As you walk across campus after your morning biology class, you discover that you cannot find your car keys. You have a problem! An easy way to attack the problem is to make an educated guess about the possible solution to the problem. It is an "educated" guess because you use all the background information that is available when making your guess. In scientific terms, an educated guess is called a hypothesis. 1. On the following table, you will find some hypotheses that might shed some light on this problem. 2.· Complete the table by adding some hypotheses of your own. TABLE 1.1 KEY LOSS: POSSIBLE HYPOTHOSIS 1. I did not bring my keys with me today. 2. The keys are in my book bag. 3. I left the keys in the car. 4. I left my keys in the class. 5. I dropped my keys in the hallways of the school. 3. A hypothesis will not help you solve your problem unless you can test it. Look over the hypotheses you recorded in the table. Is there a way to test each of these hypotheses? a. How many hypotheses did you cross out? On what did you base this decision?

I crossed out number 1 and 3. I based this decision on the inability for me to test these two hypotheses. ACTIVITY 2- FORMING HYPOTHESES TO SOLVE PROBLEMS THE PROBLEM You were absent from chemistry class one day. your professor gave out instructions for making an important solution needed for your laboratory experiment. No problem, your roommate was in class and copied down the formula for you. Your rush off to chemistry lab and prepare the solution. However, when you use it your experiment, it does not perform as expected. In the following table, list three hypotheses about why the formula did not work. Do not forget, hypotheses must be testable. Table 1.2 CHEMISTRY EXPERIMENT: HYPOTHESES 1. I prepared the solution too quickly and missed a step. 2. I mixed up an ingredient in the formula with another. 3. The process or steps I followed should have been reversed for the formula to work. Some hypotheses can be tested by observation only, but more often, you will need a combination of observation and experimentation to be sure about the accuracy of your results. To understand how scientists work, you must follow the steps of the scientific method as they are used in actual experiments. In activities 3 and 4, you will see how the scientific method is used to set up experiments and analyze the information that is collected. ACTIVITY 3: TESTING HYPOTHESIS THE PROBLEM Investigate the effects of fertilizer on plant growth. Step 1: You form a hypothesis about what you think will happen.: Ex: Hypothesis: Adding fertilizer will make plants grow taller. Step 2: You design an experiment that compares the growth of plants that receive fertilizer versus those grown without fertilizer. Your design might be similar to this. Begin with 10 plants (same size, same type), planted in-the same size pots, with the same amount and type of soil, placed on the same windowsill with the same light exposure. These are all factors, which will be held constant.

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