Scientific Method

Part I

The scientific method could be applied to a lot of common day-to-day occurrences. It provides a thought process for us to use to come up with reasoning behind why things either have happened or will happen. Even though I did not realize it, I do use the process every day in some fashion, whether it is at work, with school, with my child, or anything.

Scenario one states "I arrive home late at night. Walk up to the door, unlock it and reach in to turn on the light switch located just inside the door. The light doesn't come one, now what?" In this scenario, the first step is why didn't the light come on? Next I must gather information about why I think it didn't come on. Well as I walked up the steps I noticed the porch light, which is normally left on, was not working. With this information, my hypothesis is that the power is out. Next step is to experiment on the hypothesis and collect data. Since I think the power is out I will get a flashlight and go to the breaker box to observe. I see that the main power breaker is flipped in the off position. I flip it to the on position and the light at the front door comes on. To analyze this information I conclude that the light by the door did not come on because the main breaker box was turned off.

A second scenario may be, "I wake up late for work and am hurrying to get ready and leave. I gather my things and head for the car; I get in and turn the key but nothing. The car will not start, why?" To apply the scientific method to this scenario I must find out why I think the car will not start. I get out and pop the hood and check the gauges. Everything looks OK, so I proceed to try the car again but nothing. Then I remembered I was low on fuel the night before. So my hypothesis then becomes that I am out of gasoline. To experiment, I turn the key turn on and check the gauges inside the car and it verifies that, yes I am out of fuel. This would prove my hypothesis correct because cars need to fuel to run and if I am out of fuel the car will not start.

Now this is a long process but when you are doing it daily, you do not even think about it. It is just the progressive steps a person takes to problem solve. I would say that I had been using the scientific method to problem solve long before I even knew it was the scientific method. The great thing about the method is that you can apply it to many different situations and change it up whenever you need to and the basic steps always stay the same.

Part II

A typical day in my life does not always seem so typical. I usually wake up around 6:30 and walk gingerly down the stairs. I slowly but surely start a pot of coffee and head back upstairs to get dressed for a workout. Then I will go back to the basement and hit the weights for about 30-45 minutes and then shower, shave and get a cup of Joe. I head to work around 8 and stay there until around 4:30 at which time I leave to go home. I stop by the preschool and pick my daughter up and get on home. I spend some quality time with her and fix supper for us both. Usually around 7 or 8, her mom comes and picks her up at which time I usually start to wind down for the day. An hour of TV or reading and it's time to call it a day.

Science impacts my day in many ways. Well it starts my day off with coffee. The hot water soaks up the caffeine from the coffee beans and makes a delicious day-starter. Science also allowed for the combustible engine which is how I drive thirty miles to work every day. It is still amazing to me that over time we continue to improve upon prior inventions and never seem to run out of ideas. As an accountant, I work on a computer nearly all day long, so the science of computers is actually how I work. Without computer science we would still be presenting balance sheets on legal paper and a lot of #2 pencils and erasers. Science impacts our lives every day