9 SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS
1
Observation -gaining information through the 5 senses
5 senses- seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting
Qualitative describes the color, general size, shape,
features or physical properties
Quantitative gives a number value to an object’s size, length, or weight.
2
Communication- conveying an idea from person to another
body
language- idea is conveyed through body! gestures or
movements
verbal-
idea conveyed through spoken language
written-
idea conveyed through writing
3 Measurement- giving a value
to size, weight, or amount
meters-
measures distance or size
liters-
measures liquid
grams-
measures weight
Kilo Hecto Deca M/L/G Deci Centi Milli
King
Henry Died While Drinking Chocolate Milk
(pneumonic device)
4 Classification- grouping objects according to similarities differences
taxonomy-
science of classification- to group organisms in an orderly system
history-
Aristotle ( Greek) 1 st system- animals that flew, swam & walked.
John Ray (English)classified
by internal anatomy first to use the word species. Carolus
Linnaeus (Swedish) used Latin words- made binomial nomenclature.
binomial
nomenclature- system of each organism having two names
(genus & species )
groups-
kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species
kingdoms
(5)- plants, animals, protists, monerans,
fungi
5
Inference- drawing a
conclusion based on observations
6 Prediction- forecasting the outcome (formal way of stating an hypothesis; if the hypothesis is true then…)
7 Controlling variables- studying different outcomes by changing one
thing.
Variables- factors that make up an
experiment
Independent- one you change or
control
Dependent – one that changes because
of the independent variable
Constants- variables that stay the
same
8 Representing data- organizing your information (charts, tables, graphs
& lab reports)
9 Experimenting- putting all of the process skills together
Scientific
Method – series of steps used to answer scientific questions
1. Ask a Question- (what, why, how,
and when help focus)
How does acid rain
affect plant growth?
2. Form a Hypothesis – Your expected
answer of the question. Prediction can also
be
written and is written in an If / then
form.
H- Acid rain causes
plants to grow more slowly.
P- If a plant is watered
only with acid rain then the plant will grow at half
its
normal rate.
3. Test the Hypothesis- perform a controlled experiment.
(control and experimental
group with only ONE variable changing)
complete
experiment, make observations, collect data
4. Analyze the results – what does
the data tell us.
Organize in charts, tables, graphs
5. Draw Conclusions – Does data
support your hypothesis? Does your experiment
have
errors? Change your hypothesis?
6. Communicate Results – written or
oral report to show what you have learned
Parts
of a lab report
Research
Question- title (in the
context of the independent & dependent variables)
Hypothesis (hypothesis & what do you think is going
to happen and why) Use the terminology in independent & dependent variables
Variables – Independent, dependent listed (be specific
on how to measure them) -
control and why are they important
Materials-
needed & how they connect. Drawings or diagram of apparatus (labeled) are
appropriate.
Procedure – what
are they going to do. How are you going to measure
& control your variables.
Raw Data- what they collected. Write in a table of
observations.
Data analysis-
Manipulate the data into graph or statistics. Make connections between data and
observations. Any data that doesn’t make sense & why?
Highlight patterns.
Conclusion- draw conclusions
based on & referring to your data. Write the evidence for the conclusions.
Helpful to write a graphic organizer (1 column conclusion and second evidence
that shows where the pattern was demonstrated- this helps them organize their
thoughts)
Evaluation- Can it be improved.
What didn’t work so well. ( graphic
organizer again 3 columns – 1 problems,
2 effects & 3 how to improve – to organize data)