Scientific Method

Today in class we focused on the scientific method. We had to squeeze a mystery bag and guess what it was. Then we went over the steps of the scientific method to test it. First we had a hypothesis of what we thought was in the bag. Most people thought the bag had a dog toy, a rattle, or a maraca in it. Then we had to devise a method on how we could support this hypothesis. We thought of poking holes in the bag, opening it up, or spending more time feeling the bag. Then we would have to do these tests. Then we would have to restate the hypothesis and see if the data from out test supports the hypothesis. This is to support not prove. More tests would help support the theory more. 

 Steps of inquiry

1.        Formulate a question

2.       Make predictions

3.       Design steps to investigate the problem to generate data that will allow you to evaluate the hypothesis

4.       Communicate the results 

Why this activity? It's a good intro to get the ball rolling on experimenting. By guessing what was in the bag the students made a hypothesis without even knowing what a hypothesis is. By nature we want to have a specific answer, but science is different and uncertain. Do NOT look for one perfect answer, keep looking and keep testing.