Provide "acknowledged body of knowledge" related to the concept. Emphasize the most significant aspects of the concept in an organized, organic manner. Present information sequentially so students see continuity. Draw attention to important, discrete details; don't swamp students with myriad facts.
Define terms and procedures included in the Scientific Method.
Objective: To define each of the six steps of the Scientific Method.
Activity: Each of the six steps will be written on a colorful strip of paper: Purpose, Research, Hypothesis, Experiment, Analysis, Conclusion. In random order, the following questions will be also written on strips of manila paper: What do I want to know?, What do I already know about this?, What do I think the answer is?, How can I find out the answer?, What have I observed?, What have I discovered? Each group will match these questions with a step. The teacher will give information about each part of the Scientific Method explaining that this is an organized way of discovering facts. The groups will then reevaluate their answer and see if they are correct. The teacher will randomly call on students to move the questions to a location under one of the six steps allowing the entire class to evaluate if it is correct. This completed activity will become part of a bulletin board display.
