The Scientific Method

The scientific method is a very natural way to discover the answers to unknown questions. It is so natural that it is possible to perform the steps without realizing it. I was feeling a bit guilty because we haven't covered this topic. Then I realized we were already doing it. Here's one example of the scientific method in action.

Jewelry cleaning machines are great at cleaning coins.....
.....but there are many rules for not mixing metals and which cleaners should be used with which coins.

My son used the scientific method to discover some of these rules. 

Scientific Method
Ask a question
Research the answer
Construct a hypothesis
Test hypothesis by doing an experiment
Analyze data and draw conclusions
Communicate results

Ask a question - Will the jewelry cleaning machine work on pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters?

Research the answer - Members of the local metal detecting club said they have used jewelry cleaning machines to clean coins with great success.

Construct a hypothesis - It will work on pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.

Test the hypothesis - He thought there was a possibility that it wouldn't work and would even ruin the coins, so he asked to test mine. In addition, the first time he ran the machine he put in only one coin.

He tested each type of coin separately.

Analyze the results - He spent a lot of time inspecting the cleaned coins and noticed that he could read the date much easier on some of the cleaned coins.

Communicate the results - He was excited to tell me that the dimes and quarters became much cleaner, but the pennies and nickles didn't change much.

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