Goals:

• To gain understanding of how to write a hypothesis using a cause and effect.

• To identify the controlled variables (variables that stay the same), and variable being tested (changed).

Objectives:

• Students will identify the cause and effect in a hypothesis.

• Students will write a hypothesis that can be investigated.

• Students will identify the variables that must be controlled in order to conduct a fair test (controlled experiment).

Essential Questions:

• What ingredients make up a testable hypothesis?

• What is the difference between a prediction and a hypothesis?

Activities:

Day 1

In class students will read pages 30 - 31 in their Science Plus books.  This activity is entitled "Testing Ideas" and contains the narrative "A Tale of Two Kittens".  Students will read this narrative aloud in class.  Students should be designated parts before beginning the reading.  At the conclusion of the narrative students will complete a directed worksheet independently.

Day 2

In class students will read page 33 in their Science Plus books titled Hypothesis - A Link Between Cause and Effect.  During a class discussion the student will respond to questions 1-5 on a worksheet.  For homework on this evening, students will complete Testing Ideas worksheet which contains a scenario dealing with plant growth and aspirin.

Day 3

Students will be in the library's computer lab to complete a differentiated learning activity. Students will be given a  scientific scenario and investigative question. The students will then write a hypothesis which includes a cause and effect, the controlled variables, and variable being tested.  This activity is differentiated by readiness, as students will be tiered by their reading classes.

• Group A: Students in this group will be expected to identify the cause and effect in four provided hypotheses.  From this hypothesis, this group will identify the controlled variables and variable being tested.  Later in the activity, these students will write three of their own hypotheses when given a scenario.  Also, the students will again identify the controlled variables and variable being tested (independent variable).

• Group B: Students in this group will be expected to identify the cause and effect in two provided hypotheses.  From these hypotheses, this group will identify the controlled variables and variable being tested.  Later in the activity, these students will identify the cause and effect in four hypotheses that they have written from given scenarios.  The six remaining hypotheses the students in this group will be expected to write a hypotheses when given a scenario.  Also the students will identify the controlled variables and variable being tested.  In the final two scenarios each student will provide their own investigative questions.

• Group C: Students in this group will be expected to identify the cause and effect for one provided hypothesis. From this hypothesis the students will include the controlled variables and variable being tested.  In the second and third example, the students will be given a scenario, will write a hypothesis, identify cause and effect, and identify the controlled variables and variable being tested.  The students will then be given eight scenarios and be expected to write hypotheses on their own identifying the controlled variables and variable being tested.  In the ninth and tenth scenario the students will also include their own investigative question.  As an extension the students will think of a practical problem they would like to solve, such as finding what dishwashing soap cuts crease the best.  The students will write a possible hypothesis for this problem and then design a controlled experiment identifying the controlled variables and variables being tested.

Standards:

Discipline: Science and Technology
Strand: 5 - 8 Inquiry
Unit: Scientific Methods & Technology
Standards: 5205    5206    5207
Design an investigation or problem specifying variables to be changed, controlled, and measured.