How To Practice The Scientific Method At Home

When most people hear the term Scientific Method, they immediately associate it with having to complete a middle and/or high school science fair project. However, having a firm grasp of the requisite skills associated with can be useful beyond the field of Science. In fact, those skills can be extremely useful in any situation requiring critical thinking. These skills include observation, research, classifying, predicting, experimenting and communication.

There is a terrific way to for parents to help their child/children practice identifying the steps in the Scientific Method. It involves watching the television show named MythBusters on Discovery Channel. The format of the show revolves around two gentlemen conducting experiments based on popular beliefs and myths. Simply have them watch episodes and identify each step of the Scientific Method related to the experiment being conducted. These are the steps that make up the Scientific Method:

1. Ask A Question
2. Do Your Research
3. Construct A Hypothesis
4. Test Your Hypothesis
5. Analyze Your Data & Draw A Conclusion
6. Draw Conclusions & Communicate Your Results


Can you think of ways to reinforce the Scientific Method outside the realm of Science?

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