Asking Questions & Making Observations

Asking Questions

Remember, a good scientific question...

• is based on observations

• can be tested or measured

• leads to further investigation

• is specific and clear

Good vs. Poor Scientific Questions

Multiple Choice

Which of the questions is the BEST scientific question?

• What effect does temperature have on the rate of photosynthesis in plants?
• How many leaves do plants have?
• What is the color of a plant's flowers?
• Do plants grow better in sunlight or shade?

Variables

Experiments may include many types of variables. Two examples of these variables are the independent and dependent variable. The independent variable is the variable that is purposefully being changed or altered in an experiment. It is the one that the experimentor is using to see what happens when it is changed. It can often be though of as the "cause" variable. The dependent variable is the variable that is being measured or tested in an experiment. It is expressed as the data within an experiment.

A good scientific question will always include both the independent and dependent variable.

Making Observations

Observation are made using your senses to describe an event or object. They can be qualitative or quantitative. Qualitative means that they describes the quality of something. This types of data uses descriptive words and does NOT include numbers. Quantitative data describes the quantity or amount of something. This type of data uses numbers and is precise. 

Multiple Choice

Measuing the mass of an unknown powder is...

• Qualitative Data

• Quantitative Data

Multiple Choice

Describing how something smells is...

• Qualitative Data

• Quantitative Data

Cause and Effect

Cause and effect is the relationship between two events or situations where the cause directly responsible for creating the effect. For instance, if someone spills gasoline on their lawn, the grass will die.

The cause is spilling the gas, and the effect is the lawn dying.

Multiple Choice

Identify the cause is the situation below:

A tornado blew the roof off the house, and the family had to find another place to live.

• A tornado blew the roof off the house

• the family had to find another place to live.

Multiple Choice

Identify the effect is the situation below:

An experiment was done with plants to measure their growth when watered with a variety of liquids (water, milk & orange juice). The plants that were watered with the orange juice did not grow and begn to die.

• The plants were watered with orange juice

• The plants did not grow

Claim, Evidence, Reasoning

A "CER" stands for "Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning" - it's a way of explaining your answer to a science question by stating your opinion (the claim), giving facts or data to support it (the evidence), and then explaining why that evidence proves your claim is correct (the reasoning) - like building a strong case for why you think something is true! 

Claim, Evidence, Reasoning

Think of it like this: 

• Claim: "Pizza is the best food ever." (This is your opinion or answer to the question) 

• Evidence: "A survey said 70% of people like pizza more than other foods." (This is the data that supports your claim) 

• Reasoning: "Since the majority of people surveyed preferred pizza, it shows that most people agree it's the best food." 

Multiple Choice

What are the 3 parts of a CER?

• Claim, Proof, Conclusion
• Hypothesis, Data, Summary
• Assertion, Support, Explanation
• Claim, Evidence, Reasoning

Multiple Choice

Which part of the scenario below is the CLAIM?

Objects fall toward the ground because of Earth's gravity. We know this because we can see it in many every day scenarios. For example, when you drop a ball, it always falls toward the Earth, not sideways or upward. Astronauts in space, far from Earth's gravity, experience weightlessness and objects float. Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that every mass attracts every other mass with a force proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. Earth's gravity pulls objects toward its center. The evidence shows that gravity acts on all objects with mass, causing them to fall toward the Earth when dropped. This is a predictable and consistent behavior in our daily experience, as seen when we drop objects like balls or pens. The experience of astronauts in space further supports this because, without Earth's gravity pulling them, they float. Therefore, the phenomenon of falling is caused by the gravitational pull between Earth and the object, as explained by Newton's law.

• Objects fall toward the ground because of Earth's gravity.

• when you drop a ball, it always falls toward the Earth, not sideways or upward

Multiple Choice

Which part of the scenario below is one piece of EVIDENCE?

Objects fall toward the ground because of Earth's gravity. We know this because we can see it in many every day scenarios. For example, when you drop a ball, it always falls toward the Earth, not sideways or upward. Astronauts in space, far from Earth's gravity, experience weightlessness and objects float. Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that every mass attracts every other mass with a force proportional to their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. Earth's gravity pulls objects toward its center. The evidence shows that gravity acts on all objects with mass, causing them to fall toward the Earth when dropped. This is a predictable and consistent behavior in our daily experience, as seen when we drop objects like balls or pens. The experience of astronauts in space further supports this because, without Earth's gravity pulling them, they float. Therefore, the phenomenon of falling is caused by the gravitational pull between Earth and the object, as explained by Newton's law.

• Objects fall toward the ground because of Earth's gravity.

• when you drop a ball, it always falls toward the Earth, not sideways or upward