The Scientific Approach
​by Zoe Mercado('20)

In the very first unit of my tenth-grade chemistry class, we learned about the “scientific approach”, a successful method used by scientists to answer questions or solve a problem. Step one of the scientific approach is to make an observation. Recognize the problem and state it clearly. Step two is to formulate a hypothesis and propose possible solutions to the problem or explanations for the observation. Step three is to perform an experiment and then decide the best solution to the problem or whether the explanation is reasonable (A. Lurain, personal communication, September 25, 2017). A common misconception is that to be a scientist or use the scientific approach, you need a lab coat and goggles. However, everyone subconsciously uses the scientific approach in everyday life to solve problems. Let’s say you’re really craving grapes and you go to the fridge to fulfill this craving. Then you find out there are no grapes left. You have already done step one of the scientific approach. The problem is that there are no grapes. You immediately start thinking of ways to get grapes, ‘I could buy some from the nearby grocery store’. Now you’ve done step two of the scientific approach. A possible solution is to buy grapes. You go to the grocery store buy a pack of grapes, and when you get home you eat them and your craving is satisfied. Step three of the scientific approach is done, you’ve decided that buying grapes from the grocery store would be the best way to get grapes. Or even simpler, a problem of a typical Packer student would be feeling hungry at 12:20 PM (step one). You think to yourself I could either go out for lunch or stay in (step two). You go down to the cafeteria and see that there’s pulled pork for lunch but you don’t like pork, and you decide that going out for lunch would be the best solution to satisfy your hunger (step 3). With this term being more widely known, people would not feel less intimidated by the term “science”, but many political and social concerns could be addressed a lot more efficiently. In the current political climate, Americans often can’t get past step two of the scientific approach. After the Parkland Shooting, as a country we recognized that school shootings were a problem. Given the diversity in this country, the people of the United States have very different ideas for a solution. Some popular propositions have included tighter gun control, banning guns (repealing the second amendment), arming teachers, and airport-like security in schools (Amos, 2018, Sections 2, 5, 6). With these possible solutions out in the open, president Donald Trump and his administration have not proceeded to step three, the step to make this country safer. Not only as a country, but as a human society we need to embrace the concept that progress cannot happen without change. Whether small, like buying grapes, or large, like arming teachers, the scientific approach is an efficient way to solve problems and create the changes needed to make the world a better and maybe even a safer place.

References
​Amos, O. (2018, February 20). BBC News. Six radical ways to tackle US school shootings. Retrieved March 31, 2018, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43118865