Science Hypothesis, Theory, and Law

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• asking a q_______.

• performing i____________.

• collecting e_______.

• providing e___________.

• communicating r______.

Involves

• Is not just for ________

• Involves _________ ______

• Uses similar ____________ and _________

​Scientific inquiry is any process used to ask and answer q________ about the natural world.

• An educated "guess" based on observations

• A hypothesis is a possible explanation of or answer to a scientific question that is testable and based on prior knowledge or research​

• Explains a single event

• Can be created by just a single scientist

• Can be supported or rejected by one or more experiments

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When you write a hypothesis using this format, you are identifying the independent and dependent variables and explaining what will happen to them if you make some kind of a change.

• If the independent variable changes, then something will happen to the dependent variable because . . . [give explanation].​

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Example Hypothesis could be:

• “If the distance between a light source and an object decrease, then the size of the object’s shadow will increase because the object blocks out more light.”

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• A theory is a well-tested, widely accepted explanation that combines several hypotheses and observations.

• Can predict what may happen in the future

• Can be modified or replaced based on new information or technology.

• Based on proven hypotheses

• Verified many times

• Supported and accepted by the scientific community

Scientific Theory

• Explains why something happens.

• A law is a statement about how something

  behaves or functions in the natural world.

• Is based on observations

• Does not explain observations

• Is a factual statement

• Cannot be changed or replaced. accepted to be true and universal

• Sometimes expressed as a mathematical equation

• Cornerstone of scientific discovery (if ever found not true, science based on it would collapse)

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Scientific Law