Teaching the Scientific Method: Experimentation

Experimenting is critical to the Scientific Method. It is through experimentation that we test our ideas and hypotheses and ultimately discover more about the world. We use experimentation to gather more information and prove if our hypothesis was true or false. Testing a claim can help us learn more about a subject and its properties.

The Princess Bride

Observation is a skill that is needed during every step of the Scientific Method. Observing how your subject reacts during the experiment and recording that information is vital. We can see in this clip that Count Rugen uses Westley to test his invention. During the experiment he closely watches Westley’s reactions and asks him to describe how the process felt. Count Rugen records his findings as well for future study.

Doctor Who

Good experiments are those that can be repeated. In this clip from Doctor Who, the government is conducting numerous tests on these mysterious cubes to understand their capabilities. They have performed many different tests and have repeated those tests multiple times to find consistencies in individual cubes’ behavior. Repeating an experiment helps you determine if the results are consistent or not.

Having your students perform very simple experiments can give them first-hand experience on how to apply the Scientific Method. Stay tuned for our future articles about the other steps of the Scientific Method:

At ClassHook, we have many other videos from movies and TV shows that exemplify the Scientific Method at work. Check out more of them here.

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