The Scientific Method

The scientific method is the "blueprint" of the science experiment you will do for your science fair project.

These are the steps that you need to follow :
(Click on each word to get a more detailed definition. If you click on the picture, you may get additional information. )

Purpose: Pick a topic that interests you.
Question: Put your topic into a question that will be answered by your research.
Research: Find out background information about your topic so that you can predict an answer to your question.
Hypothesis: After you've done your research, make a prediction as to what you think the answer to your question is. This is your hypothesis.
*Important: A hypothesis doesn't have to be right for the experiment to be correct.*
Experiment: This is the actual experiment that you will conduct for your science fair project. It is your materials and procedure including your constants (control) and variable. It is what we call a "controlled experiment."
Analysis: This is the data you have collected. You may display it in a table, graph, pictures, photographs, or a combination of all of these. X X
Conclusion: Look at your data. Was your hypothesis correct? If not, why do you think it was not? What would you do differently next time? Do not worry about "negative results," or results that came out differently than you expected. Why do you think you got them?
Do you think you understand the scientific method? Take a quiz and watch a movie at Brain Pop. Play a word game. Unscramble the scientific method words. Take a quiz, print it out and hand it into your teacher.