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models of dinosaur skeletons to
calculate how fast they could have
Sometimes, scientists will discover
run. Based on this, scientist Bill
evidence that goes against what
Sellers concluded that a small
has been believed for many years.
dinosaur called compsognathus
When this happens, scientists must
might have been the fasted animal
change their way of thinking. For
on two legs to ever have lived.
example, scientists thought for
many years that dinosaurs were Every time new, more reliable
slow animals. evidence is discovered, scientists
must look back at what they had
Recently, scientists began looking
believed, and be willing to change
at preserved dinosaur footprints.
their minds if necessary.
They were most interested in the
space between the footprints.
As you may know, when you move
The Scientific Method
faster, there is more space
between your footprints. (Try Imagine you are a scientist
running around your room if you interested in studying something
want to check this.) Judging by that you think will help people, like
the space between dinosaur the health risks of living in a
footprints, scientists discovered smoggy city.
they were much faster than they If you were going to share your
had thought, and that some discoveries with your fellow
dinosaurs were possibly even scientists, it would be helpful to
faster than people. have a procedure to follow that all
scientists knew about.
For this reason, scientists
sometimes use the scientific
method. The scientific method is
a series of steps that can be used
to answer questions and solve
problems.
Scientists don’t use the scientific
Dinosaur footprints were helpful in determining their method all the time. It is possible
speed. to do good scientific research
without it. However, this method
Even more recently, scientists
is sometimes helpful because it
attempted to create computer
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