The Scientific Method and Measurement

1
The Scientific Method and Measurement

• Pages 50 and 51
• Illustrations

2
The Scientific Method

• Purpose What do you want to learn? Why are you
  doing the experiment/lab?
• Research Find out as much about your topic as
  you can. Use the text book, library, internet,
  experts, etc.
• Hypothesis Predict the answer to the problem.
  Make an educated guess on the outcome of the
  experiment.

3

• Experiment
• a. Design a test to confirm (prove) or disprove
  your hypothesis
• Materials What equipment and supplies do you
  need to use to conduct the experiment?
• Procedures Describe thoroughly and with detail
  how you will set up and perform your experiment.

4

• Results Gather data by observing, measuring,
  collecting and recording. Record the results and
  data with pictures, drawings, models, writing,
  graphs, tables, etc.
• Analysis Analyze and interpret data by making
  inferences. Figure out what the data is telling
  you.
• Conclusion Was your hypothesis correct? Why or
  why not? Did you get the expected results? If
  not, what do you think you could change or do
  differently to achieve the desired results?

5
Vocabulary

• Research - to find information about a subject or
  question. What is already known about your topic.
• Data - any measurements taken during an
  experiment or lab
• Procedure - a step by step process for a lab or
  experiment to be sure it is done correctly and
  precisely
• Prediction/hypothesis - educated guess about the
  future or the outcome of an experiment or lab

6

• Outcome - final result of the lab or experiment
• Independent (responding) variable - the idea or
  factor being tested in an experiment or lab.
• Dependent Variable - the variable that becomes
  altered as a result of the change that was made
  in the independent (responding) variable.
• Control - the experiment without a variable -
  what scientists compare their results to.

7

• Controls - the parts of the experiment that are
  exactly the same, I.e. same amount of liquid,
  same measurements, same observation time etc.
• Patterns - a regularly repeated arrangement of
  data or observations
• Similarity - almost the same but slightly
  different (alike,matching)
• Difference - that two or more things are not like
  each other
• Evaluate - to judge how good, useful or
  successful the experiment was.
• Analyze - to think about the experiment
  carefully, looking for patterns of similarity and
  differences.

8

• MEASUREMENT LAB
• Precision in measurement is very important in
  science, construction projects, and many other
  areas of life. In 1999, confusion about what type
  of measurement caused a Mars satellite to crash
  into the planet, resulting in the loss of a 125
  million project.
• Procedure
• 1. Measure the perimeter of your table without
  using rulers, protractors or other measuring
  devices.
• o Share your results with the class.
• o Record the results that other students share.
• o Are all the measurements the same?
• o Why or why not?
• 2. Measure the perimeter of your table using a
  ruler.
• o Share your results with the class.
• o Record the results that other students share.
• o Are all the measurements the same?
• o Why or why not?
• 3. Measure the perimeter of your desk with a
  meter stick provided by Mrs. Owen. Use the metric
  side (centimeters).
• o Share your results with the class.

9
Metric Measurement

• Metric system - a measurement system that uses
  meters (distance), liters (volume), and grams
  (weight/mass)
• Distance the amount of space between two
  objects.
• Volume the amount of space a substance fills up,
  or an object takes up
• Mass/weight - how much matter is in an object,
  measured by weight.

10
Metric Terms

• Basic unit meter (distance), liter (volume),
  gram (weight)
• Kilo (k) - one thousand (1,000)
• Hecto (h) - one hundred (100)
• Deka (da) - ten (10)
• Deci (d) - one tenth (1/10 or 0.1)
• Centi (c) - one hundredth (1/100 or 0.01)
• Milli (m) - one thousandth (1/1000 or 0.001)

11

• Metric Conversion Table

12
Metric Ladder
Smaller units More pieces
L A D D E R
Larger units, fewer pieces
13
Chapter 1, Section 2 Reading Notes

• Study of Earth
• A. Structure of Earth System
• 1. Energy (definition)
• 2. Earth as a system
• a. System (definition)
• b. Key point
• 3. Atmosphere definition
• 4. Hydrosphere definition
• 5. Lithosphere definition
• 6. Biosphere Definition
• B. Energy Transfer
• 1. Matter definition
• 2. Key point

14
2. Moving obects 3. Waves 4.
Electromagnetic Waves 5. Heat Waves C.
Branches of Earth Science 1. Earth Science
Definition 2. Key point 3. Geology
definition 4. Meteorology 5. Environmental
science II. Exploring Earths
Surface A.Topography definition 1. Key
point 2. Elevation (definition) 3. Relief
(definition) B. Types of Landforms 1. Key
point 2. Plains (definition) 3 Mountains
(definition) 4. Plateaus (definition)
15

• C. What is a map?
• 1. Map (definition)
• 2. Key point
• 3. Scale (definition)
• D. Earths Grid
• 1. Measuring in Degrees
• 2. The equator
• 3. The prime meridian
• 4. Locating points on the Earths Surface
• a. Key point
• b. Latitude
• c. Longitude
• 5. Using Latitude and Longitude

16

• III. Section 4 topographic Maps
• A. Topographic Map definition
• Mapping Earths topography
• 1. Key point
• 2. Contour line
• 3. Contour interval
• 4. index contours
• Reading a Topographic Map
• 1. Key Points
• 2. Scale
• 3. Symbols
• 4. Interpreting contour lines

17

• Pages 62 and 63 (or the next two clean pages
  together)
• Our Rockin Planet
• (Illustrations to include anything geological)

18
Chapter 4 Notes

• Section 1 (all vocabulary and key points)
• Earths Interior
• The extreme conditions in Earths interior
  prevent exploration far below the surface.
• Key Point Geologists have used two main types of
  evidence to learn about Earths interior direct
  evidence from rock samples and indirect evidence
  from seismic waves.
• Igneous rock formed by fire melted rock that
  cools and hardens. Rocks coming from from inside
  the earth are used for examples of what is inside
  the earth.
• Seismic Wave made by the energy released during
  an earthquake
• The Three main layers of earth are the Crust,
  Mantle and Core. These layers vary greatly in
  size, composition, temperature and pressure.

19

• The high temperatures inside earth are the result
  of heat left over from the formation of the
  planet.
• Pressure - force pressing on a given area
• Pressure causes much of the heat inside our
  planet.
• The crust is the layer of solid rock that forms
  Earths outer solid skin.
• The crust is the layer of solid rock that
  includes both dry land and the ocean floor.
• The mantle is a layer of hot rock between the
  crust and the core. It is made of rock that is
  very hot, but mostly solid. Different layers of
  the mantle have different physical
  characteristics. It is the thickest layer (3,000
  km)
• The uppermost part of the mantle and the crust
  together form a rigid layers call the
  lithosphere.
• The asthenosphere is a soft layer that can bend
  like plastic. The plates ride on this layer.
• The out core is a layer of molten metal that
  surrounds the solid inner core
• The core is made mostly of the metals iron and
  nickel. It consist of two parts, a liquid out
  core and a solid inner core.
• The inner core is a dense ball of solid metal
  (iron and nickel)

20

• Section 2
• Convection and the Mantle
• Types of Heat Transfer
• There are three types of heat transfer
  radiation, conduction and convection
• Radiation is the transfer of energy (heat)
  through an open space (think about a campfire)
• Conduction is the direct transfer of energy
  (heat) from one object to another object (the
  stove heating the pan)
• Convection is the transfer of energy through a
  liquid (lava lamp, or boiling water)
• Density the measure of how much mass there is in
  a specific volume of a substance
• Heat from the core and the mantle causes
  convection currents in the mantle and
  asthenosphere.
• Convection currents are a flow that transfers
  heat within a fluid.

21

• Heat and cooling of a fluid changes the density
  of the fluid and the force of gravity combine to
  set convection currents in motion

22

• Section 3 - Drifting Continents
• Wegeners hypothesis was that all the continents
  were once joined together in a single landmass
  and have since drifted apart.
• Wegener gathered evidence from different
  scientific fields to support his ideas about
  continental drift. He studied land features,
  fossils and evidence of climate change.
• Continental drift is the continents slow movement
  over the earths surface.
• The continents drifted together to form the super
  continent Pangaea
• A fossil is any trace of an ancient organism that
  has been preserved in rock.
• Europe and North American have the same coal
  fields.
• Africa and South American have matching
  mountains.
• Unfortunately, Wegener could not provide a
  satisfactory explanation for the force that
  pushes or pulls the continents across the planet.

23
WISE Plate Tectonics Notes

• Boundaries
• Transform boundaries - where two plates slide
  past each other without creating or destroying
  any land
• Divergent boundaries where two plates move away
  from each other creating rift zones and mid ocean
  ridges at oceanic crust, and rift valleys beneath
  continental crust.
• Collisional boundaries When plates come together
  with the same type of crust. With continental
  crust, folded mountains are formed (Himalayas).

24

• When the crust is oceanic, the landform created a
  volcanic island arc.
• Convergent Boundaries When two plates converge
  with different crust, the denser plate is driven
  below the continental crust. At the point of
  subduction, a deep ocean trench is formed. As the
  subducted plate begins to melt, the warmer less
  dense magma rises and creates a volcanic mountain
  range.
• The plates move because of convection currents in
  the asthenosphere.