The Scientific Experiment Lab 1 - the Scientific Method

The Scientific Method

The Scientific Method is the first lab in Biology class that introduces the scientific technique to getting an answer to an unknown question. The scientific method is performed by first asking an unknown question. Then, monitoring the surroundings, and investigating the background of the unknown question. Next, you make an educated guess and test the guess (hypothesis) by performing a lab or experiment. Finally, you examine the data, describe the conclusion and report it or ask a new question to get the correct answer. The lab conducted was to answer the question, "What are the six unknown substances?"

The results of the initial lab yielded a majority of correct answers and left one unknown. Here are the results of the lab.

The first observation was determining and recording the color of each unknown substance. Unknown #1 was brown with a reddish tint, Unknown #2 has a bit of black and brown, Unknown #3 was a tan to lite brown color, and Unknown #4-6 was all white in color. My best educated guess (hypothesis) is that the unknown substances are coffee, potting soil, brown sugar, baby powder, baking soda, and flour. I opened each container and with a sweeping on my hand and half-filled lung breath smelled each substance and recorded the smell in the chart. During the observing I used the spring scale to determine the weight of each substance and the weight of each container the substance was held in; then I took the weight of the substance in the container and subtracted the weight of the container to get the total weight of the substance which was the mass of the substance in grams. Each container weighed different although the containers appeared to be the same. Prior to gathering the data of the mass, I read the container to get the volume of the substance in each container. I then divided the mass by the volume to receive the density of the substance. I took every substance and pinched it between my fingers to feel the texture. And Used the small magnifying glass to observe the shape of each substance and I recorded both the texture and shape in the chart below. I then took a pea size amount from each substance and put it in a small glass test tube with distilled water to observe the solubility of each unknown substance and recorded my findings in the chart. I took all of the data gathered and recorded my final conclusion of each unknown substance, with only one unknown substance being in question. I would then begin the experiment over on the unknown substance to find the answer of the question I began with which was "what the identity of the unknown substance is?"

Data Table 1. Scientific Method Data

Unknown Sample Number #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6

Hypothesis: Coffee Potting Soil Brown Sugar Baby Powder Baking Soda Flour

Color: Brown with a reddish tint Black and Brown Tan white white white

Texture: Small grains, coarse, dry, gritty coarse, fine, dry, sand, mixed together Soft, light, slightly moist, gritty crystal, sticky, forms Silky, fine talc powder Fine but with a dry gritty texture Fine powder substance, dry, smooth, light

Shape: Round grains, rough edges, crystalline Smooth and rough edged, powder and crystalline Crystalline granular, smooth edged, round Powder substance, too small to see particles, amorphous Powder substance, edges are too small to see, amorphous Powder substance, smooth edges, amorphous

Smell: strong scent, coffee aroma No smell Sweet, molasses scent mild, light scent, sweet, like a baby Sweet smell like candy No distinctive smell, but I cook It smells like flour

Soluble: Soluble, with color change Insoluble Soluble, with color change Insoluble, with cloudy water soluble Insoluble with cloudy water

Density: .32g/cm3 .4 g/cm3 .8 g/cm3 1.0 g/cm3 2.0 g/cm3 .6 g/cm3

Conclusion: This is coffee. This is potting soil. This is Brown Sugar. This is Baby Powder. This is still unknown but I believe it may be tooth powder. This