Steps in a Scientific Observation
Steps: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Click on Number or PRINT OUT
Step
What It Is

Asking questions

asking WHAT, HOW, WHEN, WHERE, and WHY

Making a hypothesis

making a smart guess about the answer to the question

Planning the investigation

deciding how to gather evidence to answer the question

Collecting and recording data

gathering and recording information to test the hypothesis

Organizing data

making graphs and tables to better understand the information that has been gathered

Explaining results

figuring out what the information means

Thinking of new questions

using the information that you gathered to identify new questions

Sharing results

sharing your information with other investigations
When you ask a scientific question, you can use the same steps as a scientist to search for an answer. The search is called a scientific investigation. The table above shows all the different steps in a scientific investigation