Today I'm going to discuss the "Scientific
Method".  If you've taken a science class
before you've probably heard about the
Scientific Method.
You may remember that it's the process
that is used by scientists
when they want to prove an idea. Maybe you've 
participated in a science fair
where you had to show how you used the
scientific method to prove a hypothesis.
But I bet you've used the scientific method
a lot more than you even realize.
Everyone uses the scientific method all
the time when they're trying to figure
out how something works.
It's a much more effective way of
learning that having a teacher say
"This is the way things work."  Let's get
something straight:
babies are stupid. Yup,
I said it.  The fact of the matter is that
babies really only know how to do four
things:
They sleep.  Cute, right?
And they know how to suck.
Still cute.
They poop.  A lot.  And now we're getting a lot
less cute.
And they sure know how to cry...
and cry...and cry. This is not cute.  That's
really about the only things that a baby
knows how to do.
Babies have been called called a blank slate
because they need to learn everything
that they're going to need to know.
So, how do babies go from being a blank
slate to being smart?
Or really smart?  Or really, really smart?
How they start to understand and think
on their own?
How they go from not understanding that
things will fall down instead of
up - or sideways - to being able to design
and build complex machines?
Well they've got to learn it.  But how do they
learn?
We can't teach them by talking to them
because they don't understand language.
Still, babies figure things out.  They
start by watching things.
Everything is brand new to them so they
watch
and watch. Not just people either, they watch
everything.  And then they start to get ideas
about how to do things.
So they try out their ideas and they're
usually not right the first time...
...or even the second time...
...or the third time.
Now, I don't even know if these kids are trying
to figure out how to get a drink,
or use a hose, or a phone, or what!
But eventually they do figure it out.
Oh! It was the phone!
Now, before you know it,
the kids are wicked smart.
Scientists have taken this process that every
single one of us have used since birth
and have done what scientists do best -- give
it a
Really Boring Name.  It's called the "Scientific
Method".
The scientific method has four basic
parts: First, we make observations
and collect data that leads to a question
that we want to test.
This is called the "hypothesis".  Or, if you have
more than one question or idea
they're "hypotheses". Next,
we figure out a way to test the
hypotheses in ways
that will either prove or disprove them.
Really, the best experiments will try
very hard to disprove a hypothesis.
Once we test our hypothesis we need to
look at the data from the test
and see if it lines up with the
hypothesis.  If not,
we need to change our hypothesis and
test all over again.
Finally we need to let
others know what we've come up with. That
way they can evaluate our data and results
and see if they agree or can come up
with an alternative hypothesis.
Now, this can come in many forms from
showing someone what we've learned,
"Hey I can talk on the phone!" to
submitting a paper to a scientific
journal for review by other scientists.
Here's an example my daughter testing
hypotheses
about how to fit wooden blocks into
holes.
She's seen me put the blocks in the holes
before,
and she's also experimented with taking
all of our utensils
out of the drawers in the kitchen (and
sometimes putting them back in).
She has an idea about how to put the
block in, but when that doesn't work
she has to try a slightly different idea, or
hypothesis.
Eventually she gives up.  (You guys should
not give up).
Here's an example from the world of
physics.  By 1911 we had figured out that
atoms were made up of positive and
negative parts.
The theory at the time was that atoms
were structured like plum pudding --
most the material was pudding, which had a
positive charge in the model.
However, there were negative objects,
electrons,
that were like chunks of plums floating
around.
If you haven't had plum pudding in a
while you can also think of it like
chocolate chip ice cream:
the positive part would be the ice cream and the
negative part
is the chocolate chips.
A man named Ernest Rutherford set up an
experiment to test if that model was correct.
He decided to shoot an X-ray through
thin piece of gold
and surrounded it with the screen. If the
plum pudding model was correct,
the X-rays would pretty much go straight
through the plum pudding
and light up the screen behind the gold
film -- and mostly that's what happened.
But he also observed that some particles
would bounce off the gold at different angles,
which didn't agree with the model.
So he had to come up with a new model.
Rutherford's model showed the atom as mostly empty space.
There was a hard nucleus in the middle
with tiny electrons flying around it,
somewhat like how planets go around the
sun.
This model would allow most X-rays to pass right
through the atoms and light up the
screen behind the foil.
But he also said that occasionally the
X-Ray would collide with the nucleus
and bounce right back off.
(Boom)
Rutherford made observations of
the existing model of atoms,
as well as data about the different
parts of an atom.
This was the first step in the
scientific method.
And it led him to create an experiment to see if that model was
accurate,
the second step the scientific method.
The third step occurred when he realized
the results of experiments were not
consistent with the existing model
so he had to change his idea about the
structure of the atom.
Finally he published his results and his new
model for other scientists and engineers
to observe, test, and modify on their own.
Whether for children, scientists, students,
or in everyday life, the scientific
method remains our first and best way
of learning facts about the world around
us.
Thank you for your time and attention.
