Scientific Method Box
Sunday, November 17, 2013 at 7:48PM It’s far from the beginning of the school year but that doesn’t mean you can’t teach students how science works. The way I ease my students to this somewhat complex concept is to expose them to the scientific method concept box. Students first make observations with their eyes about the box. After they share what they actually see (colors, words, numbers, and most importantly one side is covered up), they should come up with a question that they are wondering about. The question is “what does the covered side look like?” Students then generate hypotheses about the numbers, colors and words that make up that covered side. They then make more observations and see if there are any patterns in the data. They adjust their hypotheses as they continue to make observations. They finally get to uncover the side in question and compare the results to their hypotheses. For some students the results are expected and match their hypotheses. For others the results do not match their hypotheses. It’s a really good lead to a discussion that what is important in science is data that can lead to a conclusion regardless if the hypothesis is supported or not. In fact it is the unexpected results that lead to new scientific questions and discoveries that weren’t thought possible before. If you want the template for the boxes, email me at darren@sciencefix.com and I will send it to you.
Reader Comments (2)
I was expecting a female name of 5 letters on a orange paper. The 4 letters in common would be FRAN. But the total letters (male and female) on the yellow and orange sides count up to 10. FRANcene came as a surprise :-)
This is a great way to help students understand the scientific method! After spending last semester in a middle school science classroom, many students seemed a little lost when the scientific method was being taught. This would certainly be an engaging way to get students interested in the scientific method. I will be sure to pass this idea along to a few of my fellow science teachers, as this activity will be an excellent way to begin the "science fair season"!