Scientific Method

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Across
  1. 3. the "educated guess" which answers the problem or testable question being investigated; often stated as "if__________ (independent variable or suspected cause), then ____________ (expected response)."
  2. 8. in math class this refers to a number that is universally agreed upon (example: the acceleration due to Earth's gravitational force (g) is a constant value of 9.8 m/s^2 near the surface of the Earth). However in science class, this term refers to an experimental condition that is not changed (also called a control).
  3. 9. a way to describe a physical property in the world using a number (example of quantitative data).
  4. 10. a group which is used as a comparison or standard. It is the part of the experiment that is NOT being tested,. Most often used for experiments in Biology or Chemistry.
  5. 11. A condition in an experiment which does NOT change from group to group. (Something which is purposefully kept the same throughout each trial. For example each trial may have the same amount of water and be at the same temperature).
  6. 13. the step in the scientific method which comes after the data is taken, in this step scientists look for trends and patterns in the data
  7. 14. information obtained through your senses (seeing, hearing, touching...)
  8. 15. Often left out in most school labs (because the teacher has already done it) this step generally comes after the creation of a testable question and is designed to help you form a hypothesis. In this step you are looking at other experiments that might have been done or information that exists about the topic you are exploring.
  9. 17. the part of the experiment that is changed by the scientist doing the experiment ("the cause of any change in the measured values")
  10. 18. a question that can be answered through experimental means instead of common sense or simple observation. This is the question scientists will use to design their experiment.(sometimes referred to as the "problem" the scientist is investigating). Generally starts with "Why?" or "How?"
  11. 20. an exact quantity that people agree to use to compare measurements. (example the length of a meter stick)
  12. 21. the step in the scientific method which occurs after the data analysis is completed, in this step scientists look over the trends and patterns they found during data analysis and determine whether or not their hypothesis is supported
Down
  1. 1. experimental observations or information gathered during an experiment by using our senses. (for example: using your hand to feel how cold the desktop was relative to your body temperature- the desk is hot or the des is cold vs using a thermometer to measure a temperature of 72 degrees which is a quantitative result)
  2. 2. an experiment in which the scientist changes only one condition (independent variable) in hopes that some other single condition (dependent variable) will change as a result. The purpose of this experiment is to test the hypothesis.
  3. 4. the part of the experiment that is affected by the independent variable (the effect we see as a result of the thing the scientist is changing)
  4. 5. numerical information gathered during an experiment (specific measurements like 5 meters or 20 seconds)
  5. 6. any part of the experiment that can change (for example: the amount of time or water or temperature). When working with math formulas, this term refers to the symbol or letter used to represent an unknown value or physical quantity for example y=mx + b where y is the value of the y position on the graphed line, x is the x position on the graphed line, m is the slope of the line, and b is the position where the line intersects the y axis.
  6. 7. information gathered during the experiment
  7. 12. the part of the experiment that gets the experimental treatment or tests the independent variable (for example if I am checking how the mass effects something I will have different masses, if it is amount of fertilizer these are the groups given different amounts of fertilizer)
  8. 16. the process used to find answers to questions about the world around us
  9. 19. this occurs when a scientist changes or "fudges" his data to match the results he expected or designs an experiment that will artificially produce the expected results (example - I do a candy lab to see how mints effect studying and put all my straight A students who have a lot of background knowledge in the group I want to get the best test scores)