What are the steps for the scientific method?

What are the steps to the scientific method?

• I'm doing a science test review sheet, and I want to find the steps that are in the text book I have, but I've left the book at home, and the review is due tomorrow, and no website seems to have a reliable source yet. Do you know them?

• Answer:

  In the 5-step method (which some students are asked to provide) we see the formation of the problem, a prediction that provides explanation, a procedure used to test the ideas, the observation of results in the procedure, and a conclusion based on all of the other steps. There is a bit more to the method, and it might look like this: Ask and define the question. Gather information and resources through observation. Form a hypothesis. Perform one or more experiments and collect and sort data. Analyze the data. Interpret the data and make conclusions that point to a hypothesis. Formulate a "final" or "finished" hypothesis. With the investigation concluded, the published results will be verified by other investigators, and the "tested" knowledge integrated into a larger whole of scientific information. EXAMPLE Observation: My flashlight doesn't work Question: What's wrong with my flashlight? Hypothesis: The flashlight's batteries are dead. Prediction: If this hypothesis is correct Experiment: and I replace the batteries with new ones, Predicted Result: then the flashlight should work.