Science Skills Unit Part 5: The Scientific Method and Observation Skills

This unit includes 8 lessons (50 minutes each) and 15 pages of printable work bundles. The Work Bundles have students fill-in critical notes, conduct exciting hands-on activities, answer questions, interpret graphs, includes games, built-in quizzes, and much more. The work bundles chronologically follow the detailed and interactive set of slideshows. Answer Keys, materials list, video links, crosswords, built-ins, and much more are provided. Everything you need to run a fantastic learning experience is provided. Everything arrives in editable format if you want add in your own slides and activities, and the slideshows and work bundles can easily be converted into Google Slides / docs for friendly Google Classroom learning.

This PowerPoint begins describing in a series of slides that Science is a... 1) A study of natural phenomenon 2) A systematic method and study, 3) Knowledge through experience. A second set of step by step slides discuss what makes a good scientist - 1.) Is Safe, 2.) Accurate, Precise, Methodical 3) Unbiased, Seeker of Truth, 4) Can find solutions, reasons, and can research, 5) Works in all weather conditions, 6)Can overcome obstacles, 7) Collaborates with others. Next the PowerPoint describes how science should attempt to remove personal experiences from the scientific process. The PowerPoint then describes how science writing avoids the use of personal pronouns. An activity is presented where students are asked to pass three objects around their table to the students near them. They are then asked to write a paragraph about the experience without the use of personal pronouns. After, a paragraph is presented and the class as a whole points out the personal pronouns. A series of slides describes all of the branches of science and describes how all of them use the scientific method. A very detailed diagram unfolds one slide at time so students can record it in their journal / notebook about the steps in the scientific method. Observation is then described and a series of neat activities follow. Students are asked to observe a photograph for thirty seconds and answer questions about it on the next slide without the picture. My favorite part is I show a shed and ask what color the roof was. Everyone in the last seven years always says black. The trick is that you can't see the roof in the picture. (observation vs. Construction) More really neat pictures and questions follow. These activities are some my favorite all year. Some more optical illusions and playing with brain slides follow. A great activity about the scientific method and the stem gall fly (Goldenrod) is described. Teacher must collect stem galls prior to lesson (They are described in the PowerPoint and exist in many areas). Butter knives work well to open up the galls and the students find a larvae inside. This is always a neat activity. Directions and follow-up questions with answers are provided. A detailed section of this PowerPoint is dedicated to types of variables and students find the problem, dependent, and independent variable and discuss control in a series of experiments. A paragraph explains the experiment and then the students describe the problem, variables, and control. Answers are provided. Another neat activity has the students pretend to go on a rafting trip and they have to choose a brand of soda to bring. The activity is framed that a rapid downstream will flip the raft. Teacher presents the types of soda, provides some buckets filled with water and has the students collect info on the soda. Teacher provides many sugary soda options which all sink because of their higher density and one brand of diet soda which will float. Students can then measure density of the soda, compare sugar levels, and other neat fact gathering, and experimentation before coming together with a final conclusion. This is a really neat and simple activity that gets kids following the scientific method, researching, working together, and problem solving. A neat guess the picture hidden beneath the boxes concludes the PowerPoint which reveals a picture as each slide removes some boxes from the foreground. This is a great unit that works for any science class. 

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