1. Scientific
Inquiry

2. Asking a Question
•Ask a question that can be
answered by gathering evidence.
EX: Which freezes faster, water or
salt water?

3. Developing a Hypothesis
•A hypothesis is a possible
explanation for a set of questions.
•Must be testable.
•Often written in an If…then… format
EX: If I add salt to fresh water, then
the water will take longer to freeze
(Making Hypothesis PP)

4. Designing an Experiment
•Test your hypothesis by writing a
step by step plan.
•Control your variables
Controlled Manipulated Responding
Variable- Variable- Variable-
Variables that The ONE What you
stay the same variable that measure to
for the whole you change get your
experiment on purpose results

5. Variables White
Board Practice
Identify the following
variables on your white
board:
- Controlled (can be more than one)
- Manipulated
- Responding

6. Variables White
Board Practice
Homer notices that his shower is covered
in a strange green slime. His friend
Barney tells him that coconut juice will
get rid of the green slime. Homer
decides to check this this out by spraying
half of the shower with coconut juice.
He sprays the other half of the shower
with water. After 3 days of "treatment"
there is no change in the appearance of
the green slime on either side of the
shower.
- Controlled (can be more than one)
- Manipulated
- Responding

7. Variables White
Board Practice
Elizabeth wanted to test if
temperature affected how fast
milk goes bad and curdles. She left
milk in a room temperature closet,
a fridge, and a oven that was
turned on low heat. She then
measured how rotten the milk was
after 10 days.
- Controlled (can be more than one)
- Manipulated
- Responding

8. Variables White
Board Practice
Smithers thinks that a special juice will
increase the productivity of workers. He
creates two groups of 50 workers each
and assigns each group the same task (in
this case, they're supposed to staple a
set of papers). Group A is given the
special juice to drink while they work.
Group B is not given the special juice.
After an hour, Smithers counts how
many stacks of papers each group has
made. Group A made 1,587 stacks,
Group B made 2,113 stacks.
- Controlled (can be more than one)
- Manipulated
- Responding

9. Variables White
Board Practice
A psychology teacher allowed his
third period class to eat snacks
while taking an exam. His fourth
period class was not allowed to
eat snacks while taking the same
exam. He compared the test
averages from both classes.
- Controlled (can be more than one)
- Manipulated
- Responding

10. Collecting and Interpreting
Data
•Finding patterns or trends in your
measurements
•Data is often organized in a table or
graph

11. Drawing Conclusions
•Statements that sum up what you
have learned from the experiment
•Includes a statement on if your data
accepts or rejects your hypothesis
EX: Water containing salt freezes at
lower temperatures than
freshwater.

12. White Board Practice
Write the correct step of Scientific
Inquiry for each of the following
statements.
Your answer choices are:
- Asking a Question
- Developing a Hypothesis
- Designing an Experiment
- Collecting and Interpreting Data
- Drawing a Conclusion

13. White Board Practice
Will a plant grow faster
when watered with
water or juice?
Your answer choices are:
- Asking a Question
- Developing a Hypothesis
- Designing an Experiment
- Collecting and Interpreting Data
- Drawing a Conclusion

14. White Board Practice
Plants watered with juice
grow slower than those
watered with water.
Your answer choices are:
- Asking a Question
- Developing a Hypothesis
- Designing an Experiment
- Collecting and Interpreting Data
- Drawing a Conclusion

15. White Board Practice
If I water my plant with
juice then it will grow
faster than a plant
watered with water.
Your answer choices are:
- Asking a Question
- Developing a Hypothesis
- Designing an Experiment
- Collecting and Interpreting Data
- Drawing a Conclusion

16. White Board Practice
Your answer choices are:
- Asking a Question
- Developing a Hypothesis
- Designing an Experiment
- Collecting and Interpreting Data
- Drawing a Conclusion

17. White Board Practice
• Plant the seeds in the containers. Seeds should be about
one inch deep, one per container. Check the planting depths
listed on each package.
• Place your containers in a sunny window. Water the seeds.
Poke holes in the bottom of the milk cartons for drainage
before or after planting. Drainage is necessary or plants can
get too much water and the roots will rot.
• Place a small pie tin or container under the pots to catch the
excess water.
• Prepare the graph paper as to what you want to record:
days, the inches and/or meters of growth. Excellent math
correlation.
• Watch for signs of growth. Begin measuring the plants and
recording the growth when it first appears.
• Attach a string to each container. A support string of several
feet is necessary as bean plants usually climb the string.
Bush beans will not climb but will need support.
• Using the graph paper, compare the growth of the plants.
Your answer choices are:
- Asking a Question
- Developing a Hypothesis
- Designing an Experiment
- Collecting and Interpreting Data
- Drawing a Conclusion

18. White Board Practice
If I put salt in freshwater
then the water will
freeze slower.
Your answer choices are:
- Asking a Question
- Developing a Hypothesis
- Designing an Experiment
- Collecting and Interpreting Data
- Drawing a Conclusion

19. White Board Practice
Water containing salt
freezes at lower
temperatures than
water containing sugar.
Your answer choices are:
- Asking a Question
- Developing a Hypothesis
- Designing an Experiment
- Collecting and Interpreting Data
- Drawing a Conclusion

20. White Board Practice
Will water freeze slower
if I put salt in it?
Your answer choices are:
- Asking a Question
- Developing a Hypothesis
- Designing an Experiment
- Collecting and Interpreting Data
- Drawing a Conclusion

21. White Board Practice
Will
Your answer choices are:
- Asking a Question
- Developing a Hypothesis
- Designing an Experiment
- Collecting and Interpreting Data
- Drawing a Conclusion