THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS

HOW MANY WATER DROPS ON A CENT COIN – LAB

The first part of our course in 8th Grade Science is to make sure that THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS (or
METHOD) is well understood and so can be the guide for almost everything else you do this year.

This is how THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD goes:

OBSERVATION

QUESTION(S)

RESEARCH

HYPOTHESIS

INVESTIGATION

RESULTS

ANALYSIS

CONCLUSION

EVALUATION

COMMUNICATION

So ….. let’s try following the SCIENTIFIC METHOD with a lab …………………….turn over the page
OBSERVATION
Water is amazing! AMAZING! It has some remarkable properties, which benefit us all. One of those
properties is that water molecules stick together and form drops.

QUESTION
I wonder how many drops of water could be ‘stacked’ on a 1 cent coin and how many can be 'stacked' on a
plastic counter the same size as the coin?

RESEARCH
Now is a good time to try to find out why water forms into drops. Internet? Books? Ask someone? And
perhaps research an answer to the question.

HYPOTHESIS
By now you might have a fair idea of what you expect, so you make a hypothesis and justify it, using your
research information. Do not be worried that you might reject the hypothesis after you investigate it!

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION – TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS

This is the fun part!
1. PLANNING: Any investigation must be planned properly before you start. What equipment and
materials do you need? How do you make your investigation a fair test? What are the variables?
All of these questions, and more, should be considered. Use the PLANNING FORMAT to get
everything in place.
2. THE INVESTIGATION: Now you can carry out the investigation and collect results.

RESULTS
You should have a results table prepared before you start the investigation so that you only need to
complete the table as you carry out the investigation.

ANALYSE THE RESULTS

There are lots of ways to analyse results. Statistics and graphs are the most commonly used. In this case,
one simple bar on a bar graph will be sufficient. Now look at the graph. What does it show you?

CONCLUSION
This is a simple statement. “The hypothesis is SUPPORTED (or REJECTED) because ………….”. The
“because” part is derived from the analysis of the results. Mostly we reject hypotheses! But this is good
because we can look for a different explanation.

EVALUATION
Now look critically at everything you have done.
1. Find at least three aspects of the whole process which possibly led to unreliable results.
2. Suggest ways to make improvements to the process, to ‘correct’ the unreliable results.
3. Recommend some follow-up questions for investigation.

COMMUNICATE
Present your investigation and its findings and conclusions.