Unraveling the Scientific Method: Designing an Effective Experiment at Home

Abstract

SCI 225 Module 1 Lab: design an experiment applying the scientific method >>> NOTE: this lab was designed as an application of knowledge activity -- to complete AFTER you finish your module ebook readings, watch your module video clips, and learn your module unit content! You will need that information to complete this lab activity! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lab Purpose: This lab is designed to reinforce your skills of critical thinking, inquiry, application of knowledge, and synthesis of information. READ this handout carefully and follow ALL instructions. You will be completing a lab procedure, collecting data, analyzing your data, making conclusions, and addressing critical thinking questions in your lab write-up. For Module 1, you will be focusing on using the steps in the scientific method to design and execute a simple at-home experiment that solves a problem and answers a question. Once you have completed this lab, you will understand the nature of science as a process, how to design an effective experiment, how to develop and test a hypothesis and how to apply the scientific method to your daily activities and life. Lab Background and Summary: Directions: First, go through these two examples before creating your own experiment. Read the following actual historical experiments and fill in the blanks that follow. 1 point each. Then, create your own experiment at home and fill in the table part of the worksheet. 10 points for completing the table. Example 1: A study was created to test the effects of Soca music on people’s sleep patterns. The hypothesis of the experiment was that if people listened to Soca music as they fell asleep, they would sleep for longer periods of time. For the experiment, there are 2 groups of people in the experiment. One group was placed in a quiet room to sleep and they were timed on how long they slept. The other group was placed in a room where Soca music played softly and they were timed how long they slept. As each group awoke, their sleep times were recorded. Dependent Variable: ______________________ Control Group: ____________________________ Independent Variable: _____________________ Experimental Group: _______________________ Example 2: A study was created to test the effects that clowns have on creating fear in children. The hypothesis of the experimenters was that if babies were exposed to clowns and at the same time a loud cymbal was struck close behind them, then that child would be afraid of all clowns. Another group of children would be exposed to clowns without any loud noises. The study was completed; hundreds of young children developed a fear of clowns. Dependent Variable: ______________________ Control Group: ____________________________ Independent Variable: _____________________ Experimental Group: _______________________ Lab Procedure: [1] The Problem: Students will find an everyday problem that they want to solve (ex. knowing which brand of something is better to buy or how temperature will impact something in their home). [2] The Research Question: To design an at-home experiment, students will come up with a testable research question that attempts to address their problem. Students should refer to the following online sources and module 1 ebook readings to help them with this lab. For the application portion of the lab, students will come up with a reasonable research question. Keep in mind this should be something that is easily tested with materials that are already present in the home. Here are some more GREAT research question examples that are testable and Falsifiable: Which interferes with cell phone signals the most: being next to large metal structures or being up high in tall buildings? Which brand of battery lasts longest? Which brand of paper towel is most absorbent? Which brand of eye makeup remover works best? How does the surface area of a candy affect how fast it...