Vocabulary
 

THE SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS
    Observations - use of your senses to gain knowledge about
      an object. Scientists gather data (information) with their
      senses. (sight, touch, taste, smell, hearing.)

    Inference - a conclusion you make to explain your
       observations. The conclusion is based on past knowledge
       and experiences and observations.

    Estimate - When exact measurements are not needed or
       would be too time consuming or impossible to get, you
       would estimate.

    Measurement - includes both a number and a unit.
      Measurement is used for careful, exact observation.
      For example:     4 gallons     or     15 miles

    Predict - you state what you think might happen in the
      future. Predictions are based on observations and your past
      experiences.

    Classify - to group things based on how they are alike.

    Hypothesize - A hypothesis is your suggested answer to a
      problem or your answer to why something happened.

    Record and Organize - keeping careful records of your
      observations. You might use charts and graphs.

    Analyze - After you record and organize, you study your data.
 

A hypothesis is your suggested answer to a problem.

For example:
My problem is that when I open the door at night, insects fly into the house. My hypothesis is that I think insects are attracted to the light.

My problem is that grass is not growing near my mailbox. My hypothesis is that people walk on the grass and are keeping it from growing.

Next, I need to test my hypothesis. I will observe, research, and experiment to see if my hypothesis is correct.
(Sometimes the results of an experiment disprove a hypothesis. Then the scientist may develop a new hypothesis.)

If the results of the experiment support the hypothesis, the scientist says the explanation is valid. They never say proven because a better explanation may be found in the future.

More vocabulary:

Variable - any factor that affects the outcome of an experiment

Control - in an experiment two groups are set up: an experimental group and a control group. The only difference between the groups is that the variable you are testing is changed in the experimental group.
 

The outcome of the experiment depends upon the variable being tested - the independent variable.

The independent variable is the variable being tested.

The outcome is called the dependent variable because it depends on the variable being tested.

Scientists may interpret facts. They make statements based on facts.  These statements are called laws.
 

Laws - relationship between events that occur together repeatedly.
 

Theory - a scientist's explanation of a complex event in nature.
Theories may change over time.
 
 

OBSERVE  FACTS INFERENCE HYPOTHESIS  Gather data, Measure, Analyze, Model LAWS THEORIES