Science Q1 - G7

• Questioning involves asking questions that can be answered through observation or experimentation.
• Sir Cyril Norman Hinshelwood described science as “an imaginative adventure of the mind seeking truth in a world of mystery.”
• Your work may guide someone else’s research on creating alternative energy sources to generate light, additional uses for battery power, etc.
• Although it is not common, even well-established theories and laws can be invalidated by new data.
• The different ways that scientists explore or seek truth in the world can be collectively described as scientific inquiry.
• The scientific method is used by scientists to conduct experiments and research and record their findings.
• These recordings allow others to interpret and build upon their work.
• Different books, websites, and documents describe the scientific method in various ways.
• Some sources describe the scientific method in four steps, while others describe it in five steps.
• The scientific method generally includes the same basic concepts, which are described in the following pages.
• Scientists may go through the process of scientific inquiry in different ways.
• Scientists generally begin by making an observation, exploring and collecting information with their senses (smell, sight, sound, touch, and taste) and asking a question that they would like to answer.
• After asking the question, scientists spend time reading papers and books on past research to prepare for their own research.
• It is important that the information from a credible source, meaning that the information and the source of the information are believable and trustworthy.
• Conducting research helps scientists better understand their observations or questions before they conduct experiments.
• Scientists decide on what they want to test, stating what they expect to find out during the experiment.
• The statement made by scientists is called a hypothesis.
• A hypothesis guides the experiment and must be testable.
• To collect data, scientists read the measuring instruments carefully.
• If the data do not support the hypothesis, then the hypothesis is considered incorrect or invalid.
• Performing an experiment multiple times can be helpful in determining the credibility of your data.
• Communication is a very important component of scientific progress as it gives other people a chance to learn more and improve their own experiments.
• By documenting both the successes and failures of scientific inquiry in journals, speeches, or other public documents, scientists are contributing information that will serve as a basis for future research.
• Scientists learn something from both valid and invalid hypotheses.
• Many scientists’ greatest breakthroughs would not have been possible without published communications from previous experimentation.
• If a hypothesis is invalid, it must be rejected or modified.
• Data are pieces of information collected before, during, or after an experiment.
• Once the experiment is complete, the data is then analyzed to determine the results.
• Every experiment yields new findings and conclusions.
• Scientists generally tell others what they have learned through communication.
• Scientists usually record their data in notebooks, journals, or on a computer.
• The results that have been written down are reviewed.
• Scientists rely heavily on data so they can make an accurate conclusion.
• Conclusions must always be backed up by data.
• If the data support the hypothesis, then the hypothesis is considered correct or valid.
• If the hypothesis was testable and the experiment provided clear data, scientists can make a statement telling whether or not the hypothesis was correct.
• Communication is an important step in future scientific discovery.
• A hypothesis is not invalid because it is incorrect, it can be modified or rejected.
• The results of the experiment are recorded in a table.