Five Steps of the Scientific Method

Here are the five steps of the scientific method :

1. Observe – Look at the world around you. Watch things closely, and that will make you curious about why or when or how something happens. That leads to the next step…

2. Problem – The questions that come up during your observations – the why’s and the how’s are the second step of the scientific method. Your problem is usually stated as a question.

3. Hypothesis – A guess at the answer to the question. An hypothesis is an “educated guess”. You take what you already know about the subject and use it to guess the answer to your question. You could be right. You could be wrong. It doesn’t matter, because you’re going to find out in the next step…

4. Experiment – Test your hypothesis. Come up with an experiment to find out the answer to your question. This is the trickiest part of the scientific method, because an experiment has to be designed with controls and variables in place. Go here if you need science project definition.

5. Conclusion – The solution to your problem. When the experiment is complete, your question will be answered, and your results will help you reach your conclusion!