Provides pedagogical insight concerning the skill of hypothesizing The resource being annotated is: http://www.dlese.org/dds/catalog_DLESE-000-000-007-442.htm

Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University

English

Provides pedagogical insight concerning the skill of hypothesizing The resource being annotated is: http://www.dlese.org/dds/catalog_DLESE-000-000-008-484.htm

Digital Library for Earth System Education

Name Date Class
1 of 2
 SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS
 Forming a Hypothesis
If you want to use the scientific method to deal with a problem, you must learn how to
form a hypothesis. A hypothesis is an educated guess that can be tested. It attempts to
account for the data at hand.
 How Do You Form a Hypothesis?
The first step is to collect as many observations as possible about the problem you are
trying to examine. Then consider your observations and think about how they might relate
to the problem. Try to imagine possible solutions to explain your observations.
Once you come up with a possible explanation, ask yourself if it could be proven wrong
by an experiment. If it could be proven wrong, then you have formed a hypothesis. If there
is no way to prove it wrong, go back to your data and try to come up with another
hypothesis.
Read the paragraphs below. Then, as you read each numbered section, follow the
instructions on the right to form a hypothesis.
Every day for the past week you have come home from school to find that
your favorite plant has been knocked onto the floor from its place on the
windowsill. The plant is an aloe plant. In the past year, it has grown to almost
twice its previous size. You always leave the aloe plant sitting securely on the
windowsill with the window open.
The last time you were cleaning up the plant, you noticed paw prints in the
dirt that had spilled from the pot. You have only one pet, a cat. You look
around to see what other observations you can gather. Outside the window,
you see the stump of the tree that your neighbor cut down about a week ago.
Before he cut it, the tree grew directly in front of your window.
Looking for more clues, you ask your cousin if she has seen anything. She is
in town for a visit and has been staying in the guest room downstairs for the
past week. She always plays really loud music with a lot of bass. When you
ask her, she assures you that she hasn’t noticed anything unusual.
 1. Collecting Observations
In the description of the problem above, several
observations have been made. Read this description
again, and think about which statements are
observations.
Make a list of all of
the observations
given in the
description above.
Name Date Class
2 of 2
 SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS
 Forming a Hypothesis continued
 2. Evaluating the Observations
Examine the list you made in step 1. Think about
which observations might offer clues to the cause of
the problem. These observations will help you form
a hypothesis.
 3. Imagining Possible Explanations
Using the list you made in step 2, imagine as many
explanations as you can of what is causing the
flowerpot to be knocked off the windowsill.
Remember that an explanation cannot contradict any
of the observations you listed in steps 1 and 2.
 4. Judging Which Explanations are Hypotheses
Examine the possible solutions you listed in step 3.
Try to think of experiments that might prove the
solutions to be incorrect. For example, if one of
your possible explanations was that your plant was
knocked over by the wind, then you could perform
the simple experiment of leaving the window closed
for a day. Since this explanation could be disproven
by an experiment, it is a valid hypothesis.
Make a list of all the
observations from step 1
that might help you
explain the cause of the
problem.
Make a list of any
explanations that you
can imagine. Be sure that
your explanations don’t
contradict  any of the
observations.
Determine which of the
solutions from step 3
could be disproven by an
experiment. These are
your hypotheses. You
should have at least
three hypotheses. To
complete the scientific
method, you would test
each hypothesis to see
which one, if any, is
correct.


Forming a Hypothesis

Provides pedagogical insight concerning the skill of hypothesizing The resource being annotated is: DLESE-000-000-005-437

Provides pedagogical insight concerning the skill of hypothesizing The resource being annotated is: http://www.dlese.org/dds/catalog_DWEL-000-000-000-226.htm

Provides pedagogical insight concerning the skill of hypothesizing The resource being annotated is: http://www.dlese.org/dds/catalog_DLESE-000-000-004-252.htm

Provides pedagogical insight concerning the skill of hypothesizing The resource being annotated is: http://www.dlese.org/dds/catalog_DLESE-000-000-006-688.htm

Provides pedagogical insight concerning the skill of hypothesizing The resource being annotated is: DLESE-000-000-003-793

Provides pedagogical insight concerning the skill of hypothesizing The resource being annotated is: http://www.dlese.org/dds/catalog_ESA-000-000-000-009.htm

Provides pedagogical insight concerning the skill of hypothesizing The resource being annotated is: http://www.dlese.org/dds/catalog_DLESE-000-000-006-179.htm

Provides pedagogical insight concerning the skill of hypothesizing The resource being annotated is: DLESE-000-000-004-957

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Forming a Hypothesis

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Digital Library for Earth System Education

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Digital Library for Earth System Education

Digital Library for Earth System Education

Digital Library for Earth System Education

Digital Library for Earth System Education

Digital Library for Earth System Education

Digital Library for Earth System Education

Digital Library for Earth System Education

Digital Library for Earth System Education