(IES) Designing Experiments - Writing Science Questions Lesson
Designing Experiments - Writing Science Questions
Science seeks to understand and answer questions with evidence. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was an Italian Physicist. He is often referred to as the father of modern science. We will learn more about Galileo when we study The Universe and Our Solar System. Galileo asked questions and refused to accept answers that had no evidence. Galileo paved the way for other scientist by relying on measurable data. Galileo questioned the ideas of others and this led to his arrest. Today scientists invite other scientists to question their work and findings. We call this type of questioning peer review. Peer review is one of the safe guards the science community uses to ensure the knowledge base remains reliable. Keeping clear, precise and accurate records is very important.
As scientists we rely on some standard procedures to be used as we seek to find answers.
All Questions Are Not Created Equal
A question will often come up after an observation.
Example:
Jenny plays tennis on Tuesday and Thursday each week after school. On Tuesday she plays tennis at her middle school on the clay court. On Thursday Jenny plays tennis at the high school on a hard court. Jenny observes her game is faster on Thursday than on Tuesday and she wonders why?
Jenny is thinking like a scientist by being curious about her observation. If Jenny really wants to find an answer she needs to develop a clear, specific, and measurable question.
Example:
Does the surface of the tennis court affect the speed of the game? This question includes a possible cause (the surface of the tennis court) and a specific effect that can be measured (the speed of the game?).
Establishing a clear question is crucial.
There is a process to narrowing down a broad question into a scientific question.
You may start with a broad question like "Why do people get colds?" Next, break the question down into smaller questions: Can you catch a cold from someone else? Is there a relationship between getting chills and catching a cold?
You should be able to state the final question in a way that can be answered by investigation or experiment. A good scientific question here would be "Does getting chilled cause colds?"
Qualities of a Good Scientific Question
Good scientific questions:
1.) Have real answers. Often the answer will simply be "yes" or "no"
2.) Are testable. This means you could design an experiment or take measurements to find the answer.
A falsifiable hypothesis is one for which there is some observation (or set of observations) we could make that would show us that the hypothesis is false. If we did make this observation, essentially we'd have to conclude either that the hypothesis in question was false, or that our observation was a bad one. Trying to hold on to both the truth of the hypothesis and the goodness of the observation would leave us with a mind-blowing contradiction.
3.) Have a hypothesis that is falsifiable.
4.) Are not too broad - Some questions are "fact" questions but are beyond the scope of what is possible for the scientist to get to the answer. For example, read this question; How many organisms are affected by plastics? This question does have a possible cause (plastics) and it has a measurable effect (the number of affected organisms). But, what data would you collect? Where would you collect data? In your school or the whole world? Is it possible for you to test every organism in the whole world from the tiniest bacteria to the largest whale? Of course not. This question is too broad and should be narrowed by the type of plastic, which organisms and location.
5.) Are written in precise language to make meaning clearly understood. An example of a question that does not use precise language would be: Is the plastic on the visitor side of the field worse than the plastic on the home side? There are a couple of problems with the example question. To what plastic is the question referring? All plastic or plastic bottles, or maybe the bleachers are made of some type of industrial strength plastic? Precise language would include details. What does worse mean in the example sentence? Worse is a vague term and not precise. Here is an example of a better scientific question. Do more pieces of plastic found on the visitors side on and under the bleachers likely contain BPA or phthalates (plasticizers) than those found on the home side on and under the bleachers?
6.) Are interesting and contribute to the knowledge base. Think - SO WHAT? You should want to know the answer to the question.
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