What are two things that characterize the practice of science?

Question

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Answer 1

There are many things, but first, in science we are measuring and observing something. We are also asking a question and then making a hypothesis which will be tested. For example, you might ask, how important is a certain amount of sunlight to the growth of a certain plant? Your null hypothesis is that if you have two plants, and say one gets one hour of sun per day while the other gets six hours, the null hypothesis is that there is no difference in growth in the two plants. You set up standard observation conditions and make sure that everything else in your observation is the same (type of soil, amount of water, where you put the plants). Your alternative hypothesis is what you want to prove. Over a period of time you measure the growth in the two plants and write down your observations. From your results, you can draw a conclusion about the effect of a certain amount of sunlight on a plant. This would be a controlled scientific experiment, and your independent variable is the amount of sun, and the dependent variable that you measure is plant height.