Simple tests and experiments
Perform simple tests and use observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions
What a learner can do afterwards
- Carry out a simple test with one thing changing at a time
- Observe what happens and describe the result
- Use the result to suggest an answer to the original question
1 · Read
You have practised looking closely. A test can help answer a question about what you observe. Ask an adult to help choose a safe test. For a fair comparison, change one thing. Keep other things that could affect the result the same.
Mia asks which kind of towel holds more drops before leaking. An adult helps her stretch dry, equal-sized pieces over matching cups. She uses the same dropper and waits the same time between drops. She counts only the drops held before the first leak. Towel A holds 2 drops and B holds 5. B held more in this test.
Watch while the test happens. Describe what you see. If you did not see clearly, say so. You may need to try again before suggesting an answer.
To read a bar chart, find the name under the bar. Read the number above that bar. Here, sponge C held 4 drops and sponge D held 6. The numbers count drops. A longer bar shows a larger count.
Use the result to answer the question you asked. Mia's result tells her about holding drops in this test, not towel colour. One test does not tell her what every towel will do. If someone says every ball bounces, one ball that does not bounce shows that the claim is not true.
Ask a question, make a fair comparison and watch closely. Use the result to suggest an answer.
Original lesson, questions and flashcards written for this learning dataset.
Three original readings written for this learning dataset about fair comparisons, repeated tests and checking claims against observations.
More to read
A toy car comparison
Ask an adult to help you make a low ramp for a toy car. Keep the path clear and stay away from stairs.
Your question could be: does the car roll farther after the ramp on smooth flooring or on cloth?
Use the same car and ramp. Release the car from the same starting place without pushing. Change only the surface beyond the ramp.
Mark where the car stops on each surface. Write the surface name by each mark. Try both surfaces again.
Compare the stopping places. Tell someone what happened in these tests. If the results differ between tries, keep a record of each try.
When two tries differ
A class tests how many drops a dry sponge holds before it leaks. An adult helps with the test.
They try again with another dry piece of the same sponge. They keep its size, the dropper and the time between drops the same.
The two counts differ. The class keeps both counts. They do not erase one to make the results match.
They check their plan. Were the pieces the same size? Did they count in the same way? They can try again after checking.
A record should tell what happened, even when the result was not what you expected.
Does the claim fit?
Imagine that you open a box and see several blue blocks. You say, 'Every block in this box is blue.'
Then you move a block and find a red one underneath. Your claim does not fit everything in the box. One red block is enough to show that they are not all blue.
You can change your answer: 'I found blue blocks and a red block.' That sentence stays close to what you observed.
When you check an idea, look for what happened. If you could not see clearly, say so. You may need to look again before deciding what the observation shows.
2 · Watch
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Where it sits
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Where this leads
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.