FCS Science

Fayetteville Christian School Science

1. The scientific method is a process of discovery and learning that involves three basic steps: 1) observation, 2) interpretation, and 3) experimentation.
   1. Sometimes the scientific method is described incorrectly or partially. For this reason, you will see different descriptions of the scientific method. However, you should see some aspect of observation, interpretation, and experimentation in these descriptions.
   2. Sometimes the five steps of scientific reporting (introduction, results, method, discussion, bibliography) are confused with the three steps (observation, interpretation, experimentation) of the actual process of scientific investigation.
2. The essential goal of scientific observation is to quantify all descriptions by assigning a numerical value to whatever is being observed.
   1. Scientific observation is the skill of collecting numerical information.
   2. All observations can be described with numbers. This fact makes it possible for computers to render any kind of picture or photograph (dimensions, shades, colors, movement, etc.) on the monitor.
3. Interpretation explains the observation.
   1. Explanations and conclusions based on associating observed facts with other known facts uses deductive reasoning? For example, if a = b, and b = c, then you conclude that a = c.
   2. Explanations and conclusions based on something happening over and over again (repetition) uses inductive reasoning? For example, if you see the sun rise in the east every morning, then you conclude that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow morning.
   3. A scientific interpretation can pass through three stages: 1) hypothesis, 2) theory, 3) law.
   4. A hypothesis is the first step of an explanation. It has not been tested sufficiently to be considered a correct interpretation of the facts.
   5. A scientific theory is an explanation that has passed the first step of testing and is in the process of being tested by many other scientists.
   6. A scientific theory becomes a scientific law after repeatedly (inductive reasoning) being confirmed thousands of times in the laboratory without exceptions.
4. Scientific experimentation requires two essential elements: 1) single-variable control, and 2) repetition.
   1. A legitimate, scientific experiment controls all the possible conditions in at least two tests so that everything is the same except for one thing. This is called the variable.
   2. If the results of two experiments are different, then it is concluded that the variable is responsible for that difference.
   3. Experiments with two or more variables cannot determine why two tests show different results.
   4. To determine if the variable is indeed responsible for the difference, the experiment, with two tests, is repeated to confirm that the results are always the same.
   5. Sometimes results are not always the same but are very close. In these cases, scientists use statistical analysis to determine how reliable are the results and how probable is a conclusion.