Introduction
Science has made a systematic process to solve a certain problem. It is more commonly known as the scientific method. This method is very suitable for processes such as experimentation because this will enable an individual to determine the cause-and-effect relationship of the phenomenon that is being tested (Science Buddies, n.d). For further definition, the steps in the scientific method are generally consisted of creating a specific question, then doing a background check related to the question. Afterwards, a hypothesis, or an educated guess, will be formulated which will then be tested through experimentation. After experimentation, the data that will be gathered will be analyzed in order to come up with a conclusion (Science Buddies, n.d). TO illustrate, this paper will come up with two different scenarios.
First Scenario
The first scenario is that you are walking with your dog to a certain woody and bushy area. A week after that, a round red rash has started to grow in your leg. Then, a fever came up as well. In this case, you will start to ask yourself about these changes in your body (Specific question). After doing a background check, you will start to refer to the time when you walk out with your dog. After clear checking, you will guess that the round red rash has anything to do with your fever. You might suspect it to be a normal skin rash (hypothesis), but you are not too sure of yourself, so you decided to consult a doctor. The doctor asks you about your condition, and you mentioned that you have a red rash on your leg, as well as feeling weak and already had a fever. For further assurance, the doctor has made you subjected on a series of tests, such as blood test, temperature check, and other related things (Hypothesis testing). After a while, the doctor then goes back to your statements and to the test results (Analysis). Afterwards, the doctor has concluded that you might have contacted a certain kind of diseases called Lyme disease (Conclusion), which originated from a bite of a certain kind of tick called Ixodes thick, which can be found in grasses and shrubs from the forests, the place where you went a week ago. Also, the disease starts to affect an individual a week after the bite, and can cause the same symptoms you experienced, such as fatigue and fever (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, n.d).
Scenario 2
A certain kind of plant, which does not grow in the area until this year, started to sprout within your community. The people started to ask about where these plants came from, and how these plants are able to strive in your place, which is mostly hot and humid (Question). Aside from the environment, your place can be described as most likely to be rural, as there are still few establishments built, and the lands are mainly used for planting different crops. As for the plant description, the plants are of the same appearance, and most likely to be considered as a certain kind of herb (Background check). Having your knowledge about plants, you suspect them to be a comfrey (Hypothesis).
However, just a simple observation will not suffice for identifying the plants. As such, you find a legitimate comfrey and compared it to the plants growing in your area (Experimentation). During your experimentation, you noticed some similarities and differences. First, you noticed the same properties between the mysterious plant and the comfrey, they both have the same alkaloids, which are used as pain relievers, as well as the skin treatment properties (The Herb Hound, 2013). Note that these properties are determined using series of testing. Next, the structure of the external parts is the same for some extent. Their leaf arrangements are the same, as well as the ability to bear flowers (The Herb Hound, 2013). Moreover, the mysterious plant also poses the same astringent properties of a legitimate comfrey, thus, can also be considered as a medicinal plant. You may be convinced that the plant is, indeed, a comfrey, but you have noticed something very different from the two, and it is the flowers. The unknown plant has blue flowers while comfrey has red and purple. However, the most intriguing characteristic which has made it stand out from the comfrey is its ability to stop the barking of dogs (Herbal Coaching Community, 2012). Having a further research about this ability, you have distinguished that the mystery plant is not a comfrey, but a Hound’s Tongue, which is closely related to comfreys, thus, explaining the same characteristics and properties (Conclusion).
Analysis of the Scenarios
As you can see, the scientific method can be used even in the simplest phenomena. However, it is not made to be complicated when looking at it as a whole. In fact, the method organized the processes effectively, and make it look like the whole method is done naturally. By the word naturally, it only meant that there is no need a certain cue to introduce the part where the method is currently in. The parts are just written in the scenarios to emphasize that they are present in the scientific method. However, even without the parenthetical cues, people can easily distinguish one part to another.
Conclusion
Scientific method might be devised by scientists, but the process comes in natural way. It is something like the curiosity of people that is only divided into the components of the current scientific method. However, this how a scientific-minded person works, and it is very helpful that this method is introduced to all so that they will learn to appreciate that being a scientist is not a difficult goal to achieve. Everyone can be a scientist in their own ways just by following the basic principles of scientific method.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Lyme Disease: What You Need to Know? [Brochure].
Herbal Coaching Community. (2012). Wild Comfrey – The Comfrey that isn’t Comfrey. Retrieved June 24, 2016, from http://herbcoachingcommunity.com/2012/10/10/wild- comfrey-the-comfrey-that-isnt-comfrey.
Science Buddies. (n.d.). Steps of the Scientific Method. Retrieved June 24, 2016, from http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair- projects/project_scientific_method.shtml#overviewofthescientificmethod.
The Herb Hound. (2013). The Herb Hound. Retrieved June 24, 2016, from http://theherbhound.blogspot.com/2013/07/hounds-tongue.html.
