You can give a real share of stock in America’s favorite companies and have the actual stock certificate framed with an engraved custom message to anyone in less than three minutes! Choose from brands like Disney, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Coca-Cola and 100’s more. Shareholder receives annual reports, dividend checks, and one vote at meetings.
Get One Share of Your Favorite Company!
What is a hypothesis?
No. A hypothesis is sometimes described as an educated guess. That’s not the same thing as a guess and not really a good description of a hypothesis either. Let’s try working through an example.
If you put an ice cube on a plate and place it on the table, what will happen? A very young child might guess that it will still be there in a couple of hours. Most people would agree with the hypothesis that:
An ice cube will melt in less than 30 minutes.
You could put sit and watch the ice cube melt and think you’ve proved a hypothesis. But you will have missed some important steps.
For a good science fair project you need to do quite a bit of research before any experimenting. Start by finding some information about how and why water melts. You could read a book, do a bit of Google searching, or even ask an expert. For our example, you could learn about how temperature and air pressure can change the state of water. Don’t forget that elevation above sea level changes air pressure too.
Now, using all your research, try to restate that hypothesis.
An ice cube will melt in less than 30 minutes in a room at sea level with a temperature of 20C or 68F.
But wait a minute. What is the ice made from? What if the ice cube was made from salt water, or you sprinkled salt on a regular ice cube?
Time for some more research. Would adding salt make a difference? Turns out it does. Would other chemicals change the melting time?
Using this new information, let’s try that hypothesis again.
An ice cube made with tap water will melt in less than 30 minutes in a room at sea level with a temperature of 20C or 68F.
Does that seem like an educated guess? No, it sounds like you are stating the obvious.
At this point, it is obvious only because of your research. You haven’t actually done the experiment. Now it’s time to run the experiment to support the hypothesis.
A hypothesis isn’t an educated guess. It is a tentative explanation for an observation, phenomenon, or scientific problem that can be tested by further investigation.
Once you do the experiment and find out if it supports the hypothesis, it becomes part of scientific theory.
Notes to Parents:
- Every parent must use their own judgment in choosing which activities are safe for their own children. While Science Kids at Home makes every effort to provide activity ideas that are safe and fun for children it is your responsibility to choose the activities that are safe in your own home.
- Science Kids at Home has checked the external web links on this page that we created. We believe these links provide interesting information that is appropriate for kids. However, the internet is a constantly changing place and these links may not work or the external web site may have changed. We also have no control over the “Ads by Google” links, but these should be related to kids science and crafts. You are responsible for supervising your own children. If you ever find a link that you feel is inappropriate, please let us know.
Send us a note if you have any questions.
Kids Crafts Privacy Policy 2016 Science Kids at Home, all rights reserved.
You can give a real share of stock in America’s favorite companies and have the actual stock certificate framed with an engraved custom message to anyone in less than three minutes! Choose from brands like Disney, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Coca-Cola and 100’s more. Shareholder receives annual reports, dividend checks, and one vote at meetings.
Get One Share of Your Favorite Company!
What is a hypothesis?
No. A hypothesis is sometimes described as an educated guess. That’s not the same thing as a guess and not really a good description of a hypothesis either. Let’s try working through an example.
If you put an ice cube on a plate and place it on the table, what will happen? A very young child might guess that it will still be there in a couple of hours. Most people would agree with the hypothesis that:
An ice cube will melt in less than 30 minutes.
You could put sit and watch the ice cube melt and think you’ve proved a hypothesis. But you will have missed some important steps.
For a good science fair project you need to do quite a bit of research before any experimenting. Start by finding some information about how and why water melts. You could read a book, do a bit of Google searching, or even ask an expert. For our example, you could learn about how temperature and air pressure can change the state of water. Don’t forget that elevation above sea level changes air pressure too.
Now, using all your research, try to restate that hypothesis.
An ice cube will melt in less than 30 minutes in a room at sea level with a temperature of 20C or 68F.
But wait a minute. What is the ice made from? What if the ice cube was made from salt water, or you sprinkled salt on a regular ice cube? Time for some more research. Would adding salt make a difference? Turns out it does. Would other chemicals change the melting time?
Using this new information, let’s try that hypothesis again.
An ice cube made with tap water will melt in less than 30 minutes in a room at sea level with a temperature of 20C or 68F.
Does that seem like an educated guess? No, it sounds like you are stating the obvious.
At this point, it is obvious only because of your research. You haven’t actually done the experiment. Now it’s time to run the experiment to support the hypothesis.
A hypothesis isn’t an educated guess. It is a tentative explanation for an observation, phenomenon, or scientific problem that can be tested by further investigation.
Once you do the experiment and find out if it supports the hypothesis, it becomes part of scientific theory.
Notes to Parents:
- Every parent must use their own judgment in choosing which activities are safe for their own children. While Science Kids at Home makes every effort to provide activity ideas that are safe and fun for children it is your responsibility to choose the activities that are safe in your own home.
- Science Kids at Home has checked the external web links on this page that we created. We believe these links provide interesting information that is appropriate for kids. However, the internet is a constantly changing place and these links may not work or the external web site may have changed. We also have no control over the “Ads by Google” links, but these should be related to kids science and crafts. You are responsible for supervising your own children. If you ever find a link that you feel is inappropriate, please let us know.
Send us a note if you have any questions.
Kids Crafts Privacy Policy 2016 Science Kids at Home, all rights reserved.