List and briefly describe the steps of the scientific method.

Purpose/Question-
Ask a question.
 Research-
Conduct background research. Write down your sources so you can cite your references.
  Hypothesis-
Propose a hypothesis. This is a sort of educated guess about what you expect.
 Experiment
Design and perform an experiment to test your hypothesis. An experiment has an independent and dependent variable. You change or control the independent variable and record the effect it has on the dependent variable.
 Data/Analysis
Record observations and analyze what the data means. Often, you'll prepare a table or graph of the data.
 Conclusion
Conclude whether to accept or reject your hypothesis. Communicate your results.