Scientific Inquiry

Cancer, renewable energy, Zika virus, climate change, food safety... Scientists are constantly searching for new answers to make the world safer, better and more connected.

Scientific Inquiry allows you to pursue some aspect of science that is interesting to you to and learn the basics of the scientific processes. Scientific Inquiry promotes critical thinking, logical reasoning, and encourages students to view science across many disciplines. This an opportunity for you to create a project revolving around a controlled experiment.

You will develop a question that will allow you to test one variable about your topic. You will then carry out the experiment, collect data, assemble a written report, create a presentation displaying your results, and share an oral presentation on your experiment.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS PROJECT:

The student must:

Choose a topic or scientific idea of interest
Research the topic
Determine a question that can be answered through an investigation in which one variable is controlled
Plan and carry out the investigation by following the scientific method
Write a scientific report
Create a viewer friendly, safe presentation (tri-fold or technology based) that shares your findings

Scientific Method

QUESTION / PROBLEM : Choose a topic in which you are interested in learning more about. State the problem as one sentence in the form of a question.

RESEARCH : Conduct your research at the library, interview at least one expert in the field, make contact with other resources and people for information, and watch science DVDs/videos. Incorporate prior knowledge.

HYPOTHESIS: Form a hypothesis as a one-sentence statement. The hypothesis is an educated guess – your best guess based on your preliminary research which answers your question/problem.

EXPERIMENTATION:

Plan, collect, and list the materials you will need for your experiment. Be specific about what and how much you use. It is best to borrow, make, or use inexpensive materials.
Plan and conduct your experiment. Keep track of the steps of your procedure carefully and thoroughly. Observe and record what happens during your experiment.
Analyze your data

CONCLUSION - The conclusion answers the hypothesis. What did you learn from your experiment? Was your hypothesis proven? Why or why not?

When choosing a topic, keep in mind….

The Inquiry relates to broader scientific principles, real world applications
The idea for investigation is original or builds off a previous idea
The problem should have global relevance and answer an important question about science