Chemistry 101: The Scientific Method

The Scientific Method

Chemistry 101: 8th Grade Science

          While studying chemistry, a technique designed to investigate scientific questions is called the scientific method. This method is a way of asking a question and then answering it and making conclusions based on specific steps. Here are the steps of the scientific method:

• Step one: Ask a question. Every investigation begins with an intellectual question that ponders something about the world. This question needs to be something that can be tested and that can have an experiment conducted for it. Think about what you specifically hope to discover in the end, and how you will go about testing this.

• Step two: Make observations. After thinking about the question you would like to answer, make observations about the matter at hand. Before doing any testing, you must always make your own observations beforehand so that you can formulate an educated guess as to what the outcome will be.

• Step three: Formulate a hypothesis. What do you believe, according to the observations made, will be the outcome of the experiment you wish to perform? Make an educated guess based on what you already know. The usual format of a hypothesis is as follows: If ____, then ___.

• Step four: Test your hypothesis. Design an experiment that specifically answers the question you have asked. Make it simple and to the point to ensure accurate findings. Make a step by step procedure that conducts a fair test that is not in any way biased.

• Step five: Analyze the data. Record your findings from the experiments tested and draw conclusions about your hypothesis. Accept or reject the hypothesis you came up with and be able to explain why, through means of testing, this came to be.

          Using the scientific method is an extremely useful way to ask a question and then find the answers. These specific steps will help you as you begin to conduct experiment in your chemistry class!