In this article, let’s discuss how kids can use Scientific method to resolve real-life problems.
In simple terms, the scientific method is a method or procedure which combines the aspects of observation, measurement, and experimentation, which leads to the formulation, testing, and modification of a hypothesis.
According to these aspects, scientists gather evidence that can be combined with sound reasoning. And it with the gathered evidence that scientists implement to answer the relevant results.
The process of the scientific method can be overwhelming for kids. Maybe that is one of the reasons why parents avoid teaching children about it.
That is why we made it simple; With the below easy-to-follow steps, you can effectively let your kids practice the scientific method at home using simple to do activities/experiments.
Scientific Method for Kids
The Stages Of Scientific Method For Kids
To help the kids, we have introduced a set of simpler, easy-to-learn procedures that can be mastered easily by your child. Here are the steps:
- Asking A Question – The scientific method begins with a simple question. In fact, all scientific endeavors start with a question. However, asking the right question becomes crucial in determining the results generated from the experiment.
- Developing A Hypothesis – In simple terms, the hypothesis is a possible answer to your question. It is a form of an educated guess whose result may work or it won’t. However, your hypothesis should be falsifiable, i.e., it should be capable of being proved right or wrong.
- Formulating an experiment – Upon developing the hypothesis, know that it is time that you test it with an experiment. It is with an experiment that the scientist apprehends whether or not a particular hypothesis is right or not. There could be a plethora of experiments for proving your experiment right. However, it is advisable that you go along with one experiment at a time.
- Collecting Data From The Experiment – Upon experimenting, you must collect the information that the experiments provide you with. This process often becomes a little difficult. A lot of scientists often get new ideas when the experiment is going on. As a result, the experiment might need redoing.
- Questioning The Validity Of The Experiment – During the first step of the process, you might certainly have come across various questions related to your experiment. It is at this time that you need to answer this question. Primarily, it is important that you need to answer why-questions. Check out if the data collected from this experiment is enough to answer this question.
- Drawing Conclusions – As you draw closer to your conclusion, you reach another crucial part of the experiment. This is due to the fact that the results are:
- Often quite difficult to understand.
- Give rise to the newer hypothesis
- Produce even more difficult questions and such.
Therefore, it is important that you consider all factors carefully while performing this step of the method.
Scientific Method Experiment Ideas for Kids
It is quite easy to foster the scientific capabilities of kids. You can achieve this simply with the help of certain simple scientific experiments.
Here are a few sample experiments that can help to provide your child with an insight into the scientific method:
- Bouncy Rubber Egg Experiment – With the help of vinegar, you can simply convert a fragile egg into a bouncy rubber egg. Introduce this experiment to your child. But when it comes to explaining the cause for the bouncy nature, let your child decide why it becomes so bouncy. Let their imagination run wild and consider all their answers.
- Liquid Density Experiment – Density is one of the predominant concepts in the field of Physics. Present your kids with a bottle containing liquids of varying densities. Now, let them decide why certain liquids appear at the top while others appear beneath them. Explain to them the concept of density and the various concepts surrounding it.
- The Effects Of Soda On Our Teeth – Kids love soda, don’t they? And you, as parents, hate soda with the same intensity. However, what you don’t realize is that this is an opportune moment for you to explain to your kids how soda harms their teeth. Just think about it. You can hit two targets with one stone! Not only will your children learn about the effects of soda, but they will most probably discard its consumption.
These are just a few examples amongst hundreds of other experiments available out there to be conducted.
In fact, you can find millions of other experiments such as these to propel your children into the world of the scientific method.
Video Exercises for Children
Video exercises are quite influential to teach children about the various aspects of the scientific method.
Let’s explore a few videos that can effortlessly help your child to learn about the scientific method.
- The Steps of the Scientific Method for Kids by Free School – The first video on our list explains the steps of the scientific method for kids. This video explains the above-mentioned steps with elegant visuals that are sure to mesmerize your kid.
Link: https://youtu.be/qAJ8IF4HI20
- Learning Science | Scientific Method Song | Lyric Video | Kid’s Songs by Jack Hartmann Kids Music Channel – Do your kids love music? And do they love science as well? If your child loves music and science, they are bound to love this scientific method song that Jack Hartmann prepared to teach inquisitive kids about the steps that lead from observation to the analysis. In his video, Jack Hartman shows how the scientific method has been perfectly created to suit the needs of every person out there. We wouldn’t be surprised if they started to dance right in the middle of the video listening to this.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptADSmJCVwQ
- The Scientific Method: Steps, Examples, Tips, and Exercise by Sprouts – Our final video preference is a little different from the others on our list. Contrary to the other videos, this video has been curated to suit a more mature audience. Usually, it is children of ages 10 and above who are recommended to watch this video. The only difference is that it also tackles certain difficult concepts of the scientific method.
Link: https://youtu.be/yi0hwFDQTSQ
The Scientific Method Worksheet for Kids
With the help of a scientific method worksheet, you can enable your kids to learn about the steps of the scientific method quite more easily.
By practically witnessing the steps, your child becomes even more engaged in learning scientific method practically.
Here is one worksheet which you can use for teaching your kids about the scientific method.
Scientific Method
Name: ______________________________________
Questions:
Research (Here’s what I found with my research):
Hypothesis (I think that my answer could be):
Experiment (What am I doing to test my hypothesis?):
- Experiments Conducted
- Materials Used
- Procedures
Analysis
Origins Of The Scientific Method
The first usage of the Scientific Method goes back to the 17th century, right around the time when modern science started to make its mark upon humanity.
It was Francis Bacon, a successful lawyer and influential philosopher who gave the Scientific Method its formal beginnings. Bacon proposed the Novum Organum Scientiarum, a newer approach that advocated inductive reasoning and published it in the Instauratio Magna in 1621. Resultingly, a newer and clearer problem-solving method was brought forward that enabled man to swiftly lay the foundation for any emerging scientific discoveries.
A Proper Definition
“That’s all well and good”, you might think, “but what is the scientific method?” “And how do you define it?”
Don’t worry, we have got you covered there as well.
You already know that the scientific method is a magnanimous problem-solving method that is used to follow up on observations made by scientists. And that is the essence of the Scientific Method.
The Scientific Method can be defined as a method for acquiring knowledge for the development of science via the means of meticulous observation, rigorous skepticism, intuitive hypothesis to allow people to interpret the initial observation.
With the addition of experiments and measurement-based testing into this process, we can refine all this hypothesis and convert them into findings.
There are two quite simple reasons why scientists prefer the scientific method. These are:
- Clarity – Every task performed with this methodology provides clarity that creates a strong foothold for scientists to base all the processes, starting from the theories to the hypothesis.
- Repeatability – There are a few aspects that enforce the validity of an experiment like its repeatable nature. If an experiment is repeatable and it generates the same results every time, this assures that the results will be the same whenever and wherever it is performed. If these results are repeatable, it simply means that they are universal. All hypothesis performed via the means of the scientific method is completely repeatable. They always yield the same results with the same experiments.
Steps For Performing The Scientific Method
The reason why the steps make the scientific method even more elegant is their simplicity. These are the steps which make it all possible:
- Making An Observation
- Developing A Question
- Formulating A Hypothesis
- Predicting The Results
- Testing The Prediction
- Analysis For Future Actions
Each of the steps mentioned above is equally predominant in their own might.
Therefore, it is equally important that we discussed each of these steps individually to see how their problem-solving process.
Making An Observation
Every problem-solving endeavor arises from a single observation. It is the observation that sets all the other steps of the endeavor in motion. In fact, observation could be compared to a seed which ultimately raises the other steps of the scientific motion.
Developing A Question
Often, developing a question seems insignificant. After all, how could a simple question affect your discovery?
However, you will be shocked to find out that developing the right question could affect the purpose and outcome of your entire investigation.
And it is due to this that scientists implement pre-collected proofs, evaluate experiments, provide assertions from an individual point-of-view, etc.
Once you’ve made an observation, you might devise a question relating to your issue. Your question could be something simple such as, “Why is the refrigerator not cooling the products present inside?”.
Predicting The Results
Now that you have formulated a question, you should try to predict their answers and, in essence, the results for solving the existing problem. In other words, this is the step where you start developing a hypothesis.
Now, a hypothesis is one or a set of educated guesses that lead you towards the required answer. A set of guesses or predictions. Therefore, it might not necessarily yield the right answer.
Testing The Predictions
Your predictions become useful only when you test to check whether they work or not. Essentially, the testing process is an investigation, conducted to check whether or not real-world solutions work as predicted.
Analysis For Future Actions
Once we have tested our solutions and generated the results, it is time for us to analyze, keeping the entire process in retrospect. By analyzing your steps, you will be wholly able to determine the results of the experiment and decide on the actions that should follow.
For example, if you have excessively repeated experiments, you will need statistical analysis, a falsified hypothesis require a new hypothesis to be developed and such.
