Methods
Methods
An experiment becomes an investigation when it follows an order. Scientists have used it for hundreds of years, and it works perfectly well at a kitchen table: first a question, then a guess, then a test and a conclusion. This section covers how to work in that order, how to keep notes and how to show your result to others.
A wrong hypothesis isn't a failure. The failure would be not writing it down and then pretending you knew the answer all along.
How this section works: we describe techniques in general terms, without tying them to a particular textbook or school year. The examples come from experiments on this site, so you can try the method out straight away.
The scientific method in simple words
| Step | What you do | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Question | Put into words exactly what you want to find out, so that the answer can be checked at home | Why does the shoot in the box lean to one side? |
| Hypothesis | Write down your guess and explain why you think so | The shoot turns towards where the light comes from |
| Experiment | Change only one condition, keep everything else the same and compare with a control | One shoot in a box with a window, the other on an open windowsill |
| Conclusion | Compare the result with your hypothesis and say honestly whether it was confirmed | Plants grow towards light — this is phototropism; the guess was confirmed |
How to keep an observation diary
Keep a separate notebook for experiments. At the top of each page write the date, the name of the experiment and the question. Below that comes the hypothesis, a list of what you needed and a short description of what you did. Drawings count just as much as words: even a simple sketch helps you remember later how the cup stood or which way the box window faced.
Write down observations straight away, not in the evening from memory. If the experiment is a long one, note the time of each entry. Write what you see, not what you expected to see: "fewer bubbles after one minute", not "the reaction finished".
If nothing changed, that is a result too, and it needs to be written down as well. Empty days in a diary are more honest than made-up details.
How to present your result for a lesson or project
Work is usually presented in this order: topic and question, hypothesis, what you needed, how the experiment went, results as a table or drawings, conclusion. Older pupils can add a simple graph — for example, how the height of a shoot changed day by day.
Project requirements differ between school years and between teachers: some want a poster, some a talk, some a few pages of writing. So be sure to check the length, format and deadline with your teacher. Honest notes from your diary will be useful whatever the format.
Related sections
- Lessons
Short observation lessons by topic: what exactly we see in each experiment and why it happens.
- Tasks
Week-long observation tasks: a plant by the window, water in the freezer and testing your own hypothesis.
- Glossary
Clear definitions of words you meet in experiments, from hypothesis to phototropism.
Sources
- Guides for young researchers (in general terms)
- School science textbooks (in general terms)
The experiments are described in general terms, based on school science textbooks, guides for young researchers and safety rules. Results at home may differ from what you expect, so repeat each experiment together with an adult and write down honestly what you actually saw.