Unit

1
Scientific
Investigation
1
 Chapter 1
THINKING LIKE A
SCIENTIST
The BRANCHES of SCIENCE and
HOW THEY FIT TOGETHER
LIFE SCIENCE, or BIOLOGY, EARTH SCIENCE
is the study of all living deals with Earth
things, like plants, animals, and space-things like
and even single-cell planets, stars, and rocks.
organisms. Earth science studies nonliving
things and their history.

PHYSICAL SCIENCE
is all about matter and energy, the most basic building blocks
PHYSICS (energy interacting with
of the universe. It includes
matter) and CHEMISTRY (matter and how it transforms).

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Science is like thinking about the universe as a Lego world:

1. PHYSICS studies a single Lego and all of its

properties, like how it moves around and its energy.

2. CHEMISTRY studies how Legos

fit together to create larger things.

3. LIFE SCIENCE studies

all of the possible living
things made out of Legos.

4. EARTH SCIENCE studies all the

nonliving things in the Lego world.
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SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
Science is a way to find answers to questions about the world
around us. Scientists are very much like detectives, using
evidence to solve complex puzzles. Scientists find evidence
by conducting experiments and making observations. The
process used by scientists to research a question is called
SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY. Trying to find the answers to a
question is also called the SCIENTIFIC METHOD.

A scientific inquiry begins with a question

about the world around us and how it works.
After a question has been identified, the next
step is to collect all of the possible information that
relates to that investigation by doing background research,
making observations, and conducting experiments.

BACKGROUND RESEARCH looks at the findings of past

scientists to predict what will happen in an experiment.
HYPOTHESIS. Scientists
This prediction is called a
test their hypotheses by making OBSERVATIONS
and comparing them to their predictions. Observations
require using your senses- the way something looks,
smells, feels, or sounds- to describe an event. Some
QUANTITATIVE and made in the form of
observations are
MEASUREMENTS. Some are QUALITATIVE and based
on the qualities of something. The findings of the scientific
inquiry are referred to as CONCLUSIONS.
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 HYPOTHESIS
SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY a prediction
the strategy used for or proposed
scientific investigations explanation that
can be tested

OBSERVATION
using all of your
CONCLUSION
senses and scientific
the findings of
instruments to describe
your scientific
a thing or event
investigation

QUANTITATIVE
information or data
QUALITATIVE
information based
based on countable
on the qualities
measurements of
of something
something

A measurement has both a NUMBER and

a UNIT:

3 feet, 45 minutes, 25 degrees Celsius,

1 Liter, and 115 pounds
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A MODEL is a representation of something that’s too small,
too big, or too expensive to observe in real life. Since models
simplify things to make observing and thinking about them
easier, they are very useful tools for scientists. These are a
few types of models:

PHYSICAL MODELS, like a globe or a diorama

COMPUTER MODELS, like a simulation of

changing weather patterns or 3-D simulations
of people or places
= ..
_
+ x
MATHEMATICAL MODELS,
like the equation of a line or a
business using past costs to
predict future costs

OO PS! A n ex peri ment is

LO OK OUT n’t a fa ilu re
if it doesn’t wor
BE LO W ! k out as
pred ic ted. K now
ing wha t is
fa lse is an impo
rt ant pa rt of
figu ri ng out wha
t is tr ue.

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7
. Scientific Ideas, Theories, and Laws
After making many observations, scientists develop ideas to
explain how and why things happen. Scientific ideas start as
PREDICTIONS, and evidence may or may not support them.

After a hypothesis has been confirmed through many tests

and experiments, scientists can develop a THEORY. A theory
is a proposed explanation that has been extensively tested
and is based on many observations.

A scientific LAW, like a theory, is based on many observations.

A law is a rule that describes how something in nature
behaves, but not necessarily why it behaves that way.
For example, SIR ISAAC NEWTON observed that
objects naturally fall to the ground. To describe
this pattern, he came up with the law of universal
gravitation. This law predicts the motion of objects
IT ’S
under the force of gravity but doesn’t explain why TR UE !
objects move that way.

law theory
describes WHAT an explan ation of WHY
happens under someth ing happens—based
certain conditions on years of testing and
observ ation

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w CheckYour Knowledge
  1. W
 hat are the three main branches of science, and what does
each study?

  2. W
 hat are the basic steps of scientific inquiry?

  3. W
 hat is a hypothesis?

  4. I
 f your observations do not support your hypothesis, what
should you do?

  5. How is evidence used in scientific investigations?

  6. C ompare and contrast a theory and a law.

  7. W
 hat are models, and why are they used in science?

  8. G
 ive an example of a physical model, a computer model,
and a mathematical model.

answers 9