Writing a Hypothesis

In our study on the scientific method, we have been identifying variables and focusing on making every experiment a "fair test" by only changing one variable at a time. Another piece of this puzzle is to figure out how to write a hypothesis.

A hypothesis is an educated guess and can be written several ways. One way is to write "I think" statements and make a prediction of what will happen that can be tested and measured. One example would be, "I think boat design number two will hold the most washers." You can also make this hypothesis stronger by adding a reason. "I think boat design number two will hold the most washers because it has a wide base."

Another way to write a hypothesis that we are learning this year is to write an if / then statement. If (I do this), then (this will happen). This also helps students to identify the variables because the independent variable is the if and the dependent variable is the then. If (independent variable), then (dependent variable). Example with the independent variable in yellow and the dependent variable in green.

"If I design a boat to hold the most amount of washers, then a boat with a wide base will hold more washers than a boat with a narrow base." 

You can also add a reason to this as well.

"If I design a boat to hold the most amount of washers, then a boat with a wide base will hold more washers than a boat with a narrow base because the wider base will distribute the weight evenly throughout the boat."  

Sciencebuddies.org has a helpful description on this topic. Be sure to click on the tabs to look at the explanation and samples.