SCIENTIFIC METHOD: experimental method

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SCIENTIFIC METHOD (experimental method)

• Question observations
• 2. Collect Data - research your observations
• 3. Hypothesis - a testable Explanation
• make a prediction

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• Experiment - with variables
• Results - data collection, analysis, graphs,
  charts
• 6. Conclusion - what happened in your test,
  reference your hypothesis
• 7. Re-Test - can it be done again? with same
  results?

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Control Group

• Not tested You have to have a normal
  object to look at to see if your experiment had
  any effects.

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Experimental Group

• Receives the test The object you do the
  experiment on.

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Variable - what is tested

• 2 Types
• Independent Variable - The actual test you do.
• Dependent Variable
• What happens because you did the test

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Scientific Habits of Mind

• many scientists share these characteristics
• Curiosity
• The habit of skepticism
• Openness to new ideas.
• Intellectual honesty
• Imagination and Creativity

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• There is NO SINGLE Scientific Method -
  Scientists approach problems from a variety of
  viewpoints

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Correlation Method

• A. Reliable connections between two events.
• Use when an experiment wont work to
• find the answer.
• Do not always explain cause and effect
• relationships.

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• Example Dendrochronology ( the study of tree
  rings)
• They study what happened around the tree while it
  was alive by looking at how the tree grew during
  that time.
• Example
• Phenology ( the study of the timing of natural
  events) Ice break up in Alaska

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• Informed Decisions About the Environment
• Require
• Values
• Something considered important.

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Decision Making Model

• - a diagram showing the steps to help make a
  decision.
• A. Gather information
• B. Consider Values
• C. Explore consequences
• D. Make a decision

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Polystyrene UseMakes you sick

• It is important to distinguish between emotional
  and factual arguments

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NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard)

• When people dont want something they consider
  unpleasant located near their home.
• Ex. Nuclear Power plants, power lines, highways,
  landfills, airports, cell phone towers

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Acronyms very popular in Environmental Science

• NGO Non Governmental Organization (do not
  receive govt. funds)
• NIMEY Not In My Election Year
• GOOMBY Get Out Of My Back Yard (remove enviro.
  Hazard from neighborhood)
• BANANA Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near
  Anything (opposed to real estate development)
• LULU Locally Undesirable Land Use
• EPA Environmental Protection Agency

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Longest Running Experiment

• Park Grass Experiment in Rothamsted, United
  Kingdom.
• Began in 1856
• Studied the different types of fertilizer on the
  yield of a hay field
• Today explores the gene flow and evolution of
  plant species