Nature of science
science is investigating and understanding the natural world
Observation - gathering evidence and information about events and processes
Data - the information gathered from making observations
Hypothesis - scientific explanation for a set of observations. A question that has not yet been proven or unproven.
Qualitive data
Quantitive data
- Numbers
- obtained by counting and measuring
- Descriptions and characteristics that cannot be counted
Must be states in a way that makes it testable
Just a possible answer to a question - must be thoroughly tested
Scientific Method
- Form a hypothesis
- Design a controlled experiment
- Observation / asking a question
- Record and analyse results
- Draw conclusions
Variable - factors in an experiment that can be changed
Independent Variable - what you change in the experiment
Dependent Variable - what changes because of what you changed in the experiment
Control - the part of the experiment kept the same
Experiments should be repeated over and over again to get the final result. When repeated, the results should be the same before coming to a valid conclusion.
Theory - a broad and comprehensive statement that is thought to be true
A theory may be formed after the hypothesis is tested many times and is supported by much evidence.