Scientific Method

1. State the problem.

• A scientist must state what he or she is going to investigate.
• Many investigations begin when someone observes an event in nature and wonders why or how that event occurred.

2. Gather information.

• A scientist must research what is already known.
• This information is called the background information.

3. Form a hypothesis.

• A hypothesis is an educated guess.
• A hypothesis must answer the problem.

4. Test the hypothesis.

• The most common way to test a hypothesis is to do an experiment.
• An experiment tests the effect of one variable on another using a control.

5. Analyze the data.

• A scientist must record their observations.
• Then organize the observations into easy to read tables and graphs.

6. Draw conclusions.

• Is the hypothesis supported or not supported by the data?
• Restate hypothesis if it is not supported and or Retest.