The Scientific Method
As outlined in the textbook, there are six primary steps to the scientific method. Let's look at an example of how these steps might answer a physical geography question in Idaho.
1. Observe phenomena that stimulate a question or problem. Look at the picture below. What kinds of questions might we ask about this picture?
1. Observe phenomena that stimulate a question or problem. Look at the picture below. What kinds of questions might we ask about this picture?
Perhaps you might ask questions like:
How did this landscape form?
Is that mountain a volcano?
Is the snow field near the peak a glacier or just a snow field?
How old is this mountain peak?
Let's focus on just one of these questions: Is this mountain a volcano?
2. Offer an educated guess - a hypothesis - about the answer.
What do you think? Is this mountain likely a volcano or is it likely not a volcano?
3. Design an experiment to test the hypothesis.
What kind of experiment could tell us whether this mountain is a volcano? We could wait and see if it erupts, but most of the world's volcanoes lie dormant for hundreds to thousands of years between eruptions, so that isn't a good experiment.
We can determine if a mountain is a volcano by looking at several other types of data. First, volcanoes only occur in certain locations around the globe where there are either hot spots or boundaries of crustal plates. Second, volcanoes are made up of certain types of rocks, called igneous rocks. Third, volcanoes are usually associated with regular tectonic activity like earthquakes or thermal vents or hot springs. Fourth, we can always find evidence of past eruptions by looking at the landscape around a volcano -- there are usually ancient lava or mud flows. So perhaps our experiment involves collecting the following data around this mountain:
a. Where is it located at?
b. What types of rocks are present?
c. Are there regular earthquakes, or hot springs and thermal vents nearby?
d. If we look at a map of the area, can we see evidence of past eruptions?
4. Predict the outcome of the experiment if the hypothesis is supported, AND if the hypothesis is not supported.
If you hypothesize that the mountain is a volcano, it will be located at a hotspot or plate boundary, it will be made of primarily igneous rocks, it will show signs of tectonic activity, and there should be evidence of past eruptions.
If you hypothesize that the mountain is not a volcano, it may meet one or two of these conditions, but not all of them.
5. Conduct the experiment and observe what actually happens.
A team of geographers visits the volcano and collects the following evidence:
a. Location - the mountain is situated in the Sawtooth Range of southern Idaho.
b. It is made of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.
c. There are hot springs nearby, and there are few recorded earthquakes.
d. There is no evidence of past eruptions.
6. Draw a conclusion based on the results of the experiment.
What is your conclusion based on the evidence? Is the mountain a volcano or not?
How did this landscape form?
Is that mountain a volcano?
Is the snow field near the peak a glacier or just a snow field?
How old is this mountain peak?
Let's focus on just one of these questions: Is this mountain a volcano?
2. Offer an educated guess - a hypothesis - about the answer.
What do you think? Is this mountain likely a volcano or is it likely not a volcano?
3. Design an experiment to test the hypothesis.
What kind of experiment could tell us whether this mountain is a volcano? We could wait and see if it erupts, but most of the world's volcanoes lie dormant for hundreds to thousands of years between eruptions, so that isn't a good experiment.
We can determine if a mountain is a volcano by looking at several other types of data. First, volcanoes only occur in certain locations around the globe where there are either hot spots or boundaries of crustal plates. Second, volcanoes are made up of certain types of rocks, called igneous rocks. Third, volcanoes are usually associated with regular tectonic activity like earthquakes or thermal vents or hot springs. Fourth, we can always find evidence of past eruptions by looking at the landscape around a volcano -- there are usually ancient lava or mud flows. So perhaps our experiment involves collecting the following data around this mountain:
a. Where is it located at?
b. What types of rocks are present?
c. Are there regular earthquakes, or hot springs and thermal vents nearby?
d. If we look at a map of the area, can we see evidence of past eruptions?
4. Predict the outcome of the experiment if the hypothesis is supported, AND if the hypothesis is not supported.
If you hypothesize that the mountain is a volcano, it will be located at a hotspot or plate boundary, it will be made of primarily igneous rocks, it will show signs of tectonic activity, and there should be evidence of past eruptions.
If you hypothesize that the mountain is not a volcano, it may meet one or two of these conditions, but not all of them.
5. Conduct the experiment and observe what actually happens.
A team of geographers visits the volcano and collects the following evidence:
a. Location - the mountain is situated in the Sawtooth Range of southern Idaho.
b. It is made of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.
c. There are hot springs nearby, and there are few recorded earthquakes.
d. There is no evidence of past eruptions.
6. Draw a conclusion based on the results of the experiment.
What is your conclusion based on the evidence? Is the mountain a volcano or not?