Final answer:
Scientific investigations are tests of hypotheses through experiments, observations, or modeling to gather evidence. Examples include medical research on antibiotics, environmental climate models, physical gas experiments, and chemical reaction tests. These investigations provide measurable, reproducible, and falsifiable results that advance scientific knowledge.
Step-by-step explanation:
Scientific investigation encompasses a systematic process used to test ideas and theories by gathering evidence through experiments, observations, and modeling. Real-life examples of such investigations are abundant and span across various fields. A scientific experiment provides a controlled environment to test hypotheses and extract measurable results. These results must be reproducible and the hypotheses must be able to be proven wrong to uphold scientific integrity.
Examples of Scientific Investigation
Medical Research: Discovering antibiotics like penicillin involved scientific investigation, where Alexander Fleming conducted experiments that yielded measurable results and led to the development of life-saving drugs.
Environmental Science: Climate modeling allows scientists to represent complex systems and predict changes in the climate without direct experimentation on the real world.
Physics: The study of the relationship among gas pressure, temperature, volume, and amount has been accomplished by holding certain variables constant in an experimental setup, thereby following the scientific method.
Chemistry: Chemical reactions are investigated by experiments that can provide clear, often binary results - such as the presence or absence of a reaction under specific conditions.
Such scientific investigations involve planning, forming testable hypotheses, gathering evidence through systematic testing, and using logic and data to draw conclusions.