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Have you ever had a question about the world,
like what plants need to grow, or how to blow
bigger bubbles? There is a way to find the
answer to these and other questions that is
used by scientists. It is called the Scientific
Method. If you use it, you can be a scientist, too!
The scientific method is a way to ask and
answer scientific questions by making observations
and doing experiments. There are six simple
steps to follow.
First, ask a question or identify the problem
you would like to solve.
Second, make observations and do research
about your topic. Observation means to study
carefully.
Once you have observed and researched your
problem, you are ready for step three: form
a hypothesis. A hypothesis is an educated
guess about how something works. In order
to be useful, a hypothesis needs to be testable.
This means that you can actually test it and
see whether it is true or not.
After you have your hypothesis, move on to
step four: Design an experiment and test your
hypothesis. When designing an experiment,
you must be sure to only test one thing at
once. You can do this by making sure to only
change one thing, or variable, in each experiment.
Everything else must remain the same.
Once you have completed your experiment, analyze
your data. To do this you will look at the
results of your experiment and try to figure
out what it means.
Finally, using your data, you can draw a conclusion.
If your conclusion did not support, or agree
with, your hypothesis, that's okay! It doesn't
mean it was a bad experiment. Using the information
from your first experiment, you may need to
form a new hypothesis, and create a new experiment
to test it. Even if your conclusion does support
your hypothesis, you may have a new question
you'd like to test, and can begin the scientific
process all over again.
The scientific method is a step by step way
to solve problems and answer questions logically.
Thanks to the scientific method, many important
discoveries have been made about our world,
but many unanswered questions remain. Would
you like to help answer them? You can! Just
remember to be scientific. Ask a question,
make observations, form a hypothesis, design
an experiment and test that hypothesis, analyze
your data, and draw a conclusion.
