Science Questions
- 1. SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS WHAT MAKES A GOOD SCIENTIFIC QUESTION?
- 2. QUESTIONS SCIENTISTS ASK MANY QUESTIONS. THESE QUESTIONS COME AS SCIENTISTS OBSERVE THE WORLD AROUND THEM. SOME QUESTIONS ARE SCIENTIFIC AND OTHERS ARE NOT.
- 3. QUESTIONS NON-SCIENTIFIC- ANSWERS DIFFERENT SCIENTIFIC- GUIDES AN DEPENDING ON WHO YOU INVESTIGATION ASK
- 4. NOT ALL QUESTIONS ARE SCIENTIFIC WHEN A QUESTION HAS DIFFERENT ANSWERS DEPENDING ON WHO YOU ASK, IT IS NOT SCIENTIFIC.
- 5. A NON-SCIENTIFIC QUESTION IS THE PUDDLE BIG OR SMALL? THIS IS NOT A SCIENTIFIC QUESTION BECAUSE “BIG” AND “SMALL” MEAN DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE.
- 6. WHAT DO YOU THINK? ON YOUR SLATE, WRITE DOWN WHAT THE TEMPERATURE MIGHT BE ON A HOT DAY. NOW, WRITE DOWN WHAT THE TEMPERATURE MIGHT BE ON A COLD DAY. SHARE YOUR ANSWERS WITH THE CLASS.
- 7. WHAT DO YOU NOTICE? DID EVERYONE WRITE DOWN THE SAME TEMPERATURES FOR A HOT AND COLD DAY? NO! THIS PROVES THAT WORDS LIKE “HOT” AND “COLD” MEAN DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE. THAT IS WHAT MAKES THIS NON-SCIENTIFIC.
- 8. NON-SCIENTIFIC WORDS HOT, COLD BIG, SMALL A LOT, A LITTLE HIGH, LOW NEAR, FAR ALL THESE WORDS CAN MEAN DIFFERENT THINGS TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE
- 9. QUESTIONS NON-SCIENTIFIC- ANSWERS DIFFERENT SCIENTIFIC- GUIDES AN DEPENDING ON WHO YOU INVESTIGATION ASK **CAN YOU WRITE A NON-SCIENTIFIC QUESTION?
- 10. SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS SCIENTISTS THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT THE QUESTIONS THEY ASK. ONCE A QUESTION IS ASKED, THEY RUN AN INVESTIGATION, OR CAREFUL STUDY, TO TRY TO ANSWER THEIR QUESTIONS. LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS.
- 11. QUESTIONS NON-SCIENTIFIC- ANSWERS DIFFERENT SCIENTIFIC- GUIDES AN DEPENDING ON WHO YOU INVESTIGATION ASK
- 12. SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS WHEN YOU BEGIN A SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION, IT IS A GOOD IDEA TO ASK BIG, OPEN QUESTIONS. OFTEN, THESE QUESTIONS BEGIN WITH “WHY.” THESE QUESTIONS SHOULD BE BASED ON EARLY OBSERVATIONS OF AN EVENT THAT INTERESTS YOU.
- 13. QUESTIONS NON-SCIENTIFIC- ANSWERS DIFFERENT SCIENTIFIC- GUIDES AN DEPENDING ON WHO YOU INVESTIGATION ASK BROAD, “WHY” QUESTIONS “WHY” QUESTIONS ARE A GOOD PLACE TO START.
- 14. EXAMPLES OF “WHY” QUESTIONS WHY DO BIRDS SUDDENLY APPEAR IN THE SPRINGTIME? WHY DID THE DINOSAURS DIE OUT? WHY IS THE SKY BLUE?
- 15. SPECIFIC QUESTIONS SCIENTISTS USE “WHY” QUESTIONS TO START INVESTIGATIONS, BUT THOSE ARE NOT EASILY TESTED. INSTEAD, THEY ASK MORE SPECIFIC QUESTIONS. THESE QUESTIONS ARE TESTABLE.
- 16. QUESTIONS NON-SCIENTIFIC- ANSWERS DIFFERENT SCIENTIFIC- GUIDES AN DEPENDING ON WHO YOU INVESTIGATION ASK BROAD, “WHY” QUESTIONS SPECIFIC, TESTABLE QUESTIONS
- 17. TESTABLE QUESTIONS A TESTABLE QUESTION IS A QUESTION THAT CAN BE ANSWERED BY: ✓ OBSERVING ✓ MEASURING ✓ EXPERIMENTING
- 18. EXAMPLES OF TESTABLE QUESTIONS QUESTION: AT WHAT TEMPERATURE DOES WATER BOIL? THIS QUESTION CAN BE ANSWERED BY CONDUCTING AN EXPERIMENT. YOU WILL NEED: - A THERMOMETER, SOME WATER - A HEATPROOF CONTAINER - A SOURCE OF HEAT TESTABLE QUESTION: EXPERIMENTING, MEASURING, OBSERVING
- 19. EXAMPLES OF TESTABLE QUESTIONS QUESTION: DOES THE PLANET VENUS HAVE PHASES LIKE THE MOON? THIS QUESTION CAN BE ANSWERED THROUGH OBSERVATIONS. YOU WILL NEED: -A TELESCOPE -A NOTEBOOK OR CALENDAR FOR RECORDING YOUR OBSERVATIONS TESTABLE QUESTION: EXPERIMENTING, MEASURING, OBSERVING
- 20. A QUICK REVIEW THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF QUESTIONS. IF A QUESTIONS HAS MANY DIFFERENT ANSWERS DEPENDING ON WHO YOU ASK OR IS AN OPINION QUESTION, IT IS NOT SCIENTIFIC. QUESTIONS THAT LEAD TO AN INVESTIGATION ARE SCIENTIFIC. MANY TIMES THESE QUESTIONS ARE “WHY” QUESTIONS. “WHY” QUESTIONS NEED TO BE MORE SPECIFIC BEFORE THEY CAN BE TESTED. A QUESTION IS TESTABLE IF IT CAN BE ANSWERED BY OBSERVING, MEASURING OR EXPERIMENTING.