Name: __________________________ Class: 4- ___________ Date: ___________________

Scientific Method
Guided Note-Taking # 1

The scientific method is a way of solving problems that

uses a set of steps to make sure your answer is accurate and
based on evidence. Evidence is anything that you can
measure that helps prove that you are right. When people
use the scientific method, they collect evidence and think
about it to try to figure out what is really going on.

STEPS:

1 Ask yourself, “What do I want to learn more about?”, or “I wonder what

would happen if…?”

2 Research to help you make an educated guess known as hypothesis, and

then answer your question.
INVERTEBRATES

3
Conduct an experiment to test your hypothesis.

4 Make careful observations and write down what happens.

 5 Use your data to draw conclusions about your experiment. Was your
hypothesis correct?

6 Explain your results by presenting your experiment, observations, and

conclusions.

Let’s practice.

Penicillin: The First Antibiotics

The bacteriologist, Sir Alexander Fleming was engaged in the study of Staphylococcus, a kind of
bacteria that was that was being grown in Petri dishes. That’s when he noticed the penicillin mold that
was also growing in some of the culture dishes. There was a clear area around the penicillin mold
because the bacteria that had grown here had died. But there were no clear areas in the dishes without
the said mold.

Sir Alexander hypothesized that the penicillin mold could be producing a chemical that kills
bacteria. He decided to test his hypothesis by getting the chemical and testing it to see if it would really
kill bacteria. He transferred it to a solution of nutrient broth that contained the elements necessary to its
growth. Once the mold nourished, he removed it from the broth and transferred the broth to a culture
of bacteria. The bacteria died as a result. This discovery was used to develop several kinds of antibiotics
that treated several deadly diseases.

QUESTIONS:

1. What is the problem in the story?

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2. What was the hypothesis of Sir Alexander?

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3. How did Sir Alexander test his hypothesis?

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4. Is Sir Alexander’s hypothesis correct or not? Why do you think so?

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