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Steps of the Scientific Method

Steps of the Scientific Method

Author: Nathan Lampson
This lesson will explain the steps involved in the Scientific Method
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In order to discover new things about the world around us, scientists use a procedure that supports new scientific discoveries.  The scientific method is a series of steps used to derive new information about the world around us.


Steps of the scientific method:


1. Make an Observation 

Make an observation about the world around you.  Maybe you've noticed that when you leave half of your sandwich on the ground at lunchtime, ants find it and start eating it.


2. Form a Question

In this step, a question is formed about an observation that you've made.  For the ant example, our question could be "Do more ants appear when I leave my sandwich on the ground?"


3. Research the Question

Researching the question involves checking if any existing knowledge exists about your question.  In this case, there is a lot of research about ants and their ability to find food.


4. Form a Hypothesis

A hypothesis is a statement that explains our observation.  When I leave my sandwich on the ground, more ants will come to the area.


5. Test Hypothesis

In this part of the scientific method, the experiment is done in order to test if the hypothesis is correct.


6. Collect Data

Collecting data occurs when aspects of the experiment are recorded.  How many ants came to the sandwich?


7. Draw Conclusions

After collecting data from the experiment, it is time to decide whether or not the hypothesis is accurate.  Did more ants come to the part of the ground that the sandwich was located?


8. Report Results

After finding out new information about the world around us, scientists report their results in scientific journals in order to further the understanding of the natural world.