What is Science?

Science is a process of investigating

our world that is exciting and
useful!

Science is an ongoing human activity

that has already produced a body of
knowledge we all use.

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How science works

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How Science REALLY works!

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 Is it Science?

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What are some of the branches of
Science?

Biology is the study of living things

Physics is the study of energy and forces and how
object behave
Chemistry is the study of matter, what substances
are made up of and how we change them

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 Find out what these areas of
Science investigate
Areas of scientific study
Astronomy Microbiology
Biochemistry Geology
Acoustics Botany
Forensic psychology Marine ecology
Pharmacology Seismology
Vulcanology Entomology

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 Scientists
Scientists use investigation to help
us understand and explain the
natural world.

They test their ideas and collect

evidence to help us understand and
improve our world.

They form a community that

analyses and gives feedback on
other scientists research.
They don't always agree!

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Making Observations
• Using their eyes and ears,
Scientists record what is
happening.

• Observations are recorded

in a Results table.
INFERENCE
A suggestion or EXPLANATION
of your observations

Example:
Observation – I saw bubbles in the liquid
Inference – A reaction is taking place that is producing a
gas

Observation – broken glass on floor, broken window

Inference – someone threw a stone and broke the window
Hypothesis
• An educated guess on what will happen, based
upon previous observations and basic research.

• It can be tested using an experiment.

It must be testable.

See the Science Buddies website for great

directions on how to write a strong hypothesis.
Fair test
• All factors that may affect the experiment need to be the same
except for one.

• These factors are called variables

• You only change one variable at a time. The variable being changed
is called the INDEPENDENT variable

• All other variables are kept the same. These are called
CONTROLLED variables.

• The variable that is being measured is called the DEPENDANT

variable.
VARIABLES
INDEPENDENT
 This is the variable you are
investigating.
 This is the one that you
physically control/
manipulate to see the effect
on another variable.
 Example type of ball – as this
causes the effect on how high
is bounces.
 ‘ I’ changed it –’Independent”
DEPENDENT
 This variable relies on the
independent variable. It
‘depends’ on the other
variables.
 This one is the effect of the
independent variable. – so this
one changes on its own
without us manipulating it.
 You measure/observe this
one.
 Example – height of the ball –
as this depends upon the type
of ball used.
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 CONTROL
• This is the original test in the experiment - You keep this
constant and you use this to COMPARE your results with.

• Remember CONTROL = COMPARE.

• It is a parallel experiment where everything is the same as the

original experiment except the variable you change.

• Example – plants and different amounts of salt could be

compared to plants and water.
REPETITION AND
RELIABILITY
• Repeat experiments minimum of 3 times in Science
classes (although Scientists often do many more!)
• Calculate an average.
• The purpose of repetition is to reduce the effect of
errors.
CONCLUSION
Is a final summary bringing all the events of what
happened together.

In your conclusion you should:

• Restate your Aim
• Comment on the hypothesis
• Summarise your results to carefully highlight patterns
in your data
• Relate your findings to what you have learnt about that
topic