Problem—you observe something and form a question

Research—check to see if someone has already studied this

Hypothesis—you make an educated guess about the answer

Test the Hypothesis—do an experiment and gather data

Analysis—you look over the data, make a graph

Conclusion—you decide if the data support your hypothesis or not

·      A hypothesis should be 3 things:

Ø  testable (you can realistically test it; not “Aliens exist.”)

Ø  fact based (not an opinion; “Blue is the best color.”)

Ø  a complete sentence (not just a number! “36”)

·      Experimental Variables:

Imagine you want to answer the question: how does the amount of water plants receive affect plant growth?

·      Independent Variable—the one you change or control to see how it will affect the other variables (amount of water)

·      Dependent Variable—the one that changes in response to changes in the independent variable (plant growth)

·      Constant—a variable you don’t change (sunlight and soil)

 

·      Data can be one of 2 types: quantitative or qualitative. 

·      Quantitative (“cuanto”): observations that are numerical, like 5.5 km or 100L

·      Qualitative: observations that are descriptive—green, tall