Making a Science Experiment Throughout the Year

Making a Science Experiment Throughout the Year
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Observation of Self

This lesson plan was created so that students can learn how fun and simple making a science experiment can be. Students enjoy looking at their own personalities. This lesson plan will not only show them how fun making a science experiment can be, but will also give them tools to make positive changes in themselves.

To begin this project, ask students to make a list that describes themselves and their hobbies. Once students make this list, they should go through the list and rate the ones they want to make changes to by placing a number next to the item 1-10, with 1 being the one they want to improve upon the most and 1 being the one they want to improve upon the least.

Making a Science Experiment

Ask students to list the scientific method as written below.

  • Observe.
  • Explain or create a hypothesis.
  • Use the hypothesis to make a prediction.
  • Test the prediction.
  • Come to a conclusion.

Ask students to look at their own list and create a science experiment based on their own information. Use the example below to help students to understand what this means.

Sue created her list and the thing that she rated as needing the most improvement was her free throw scores in basketball. Based on that information, Sue created the following experiment.

  1. Observe- Sue saw that her free throw scores needed improvement.
  2. Hypothesis- Sue thought she didn’t practice enough.
  3. Prediction-Sue thought that if she added 20 minutes of free throw practice in to her workout schedule, her performance would improve.
  4. Test- Sue recorded her free throws without any practice for 5 days. Sue then added the free throw practice to her workout schedule. Afterwords, she recorded her free throws.
  5. Conclusion- Sue noticed that her free throw scores improved by 10% if she changed nothing about her routine except for adding 20 minutes of free throw practice into her workout schedule.

Students should now create their own experiment and measure it over a two week time period. This particular experiment is a school year long experiment. Student should submit weekly updates on their progress, research and findings as part of their weekly homework. Now that students have seen how simple making a science experiment can be, they will not be so intimidated by making them throughout the school year.

This post is part of the series: Making a Science Experiment

Students who get involved in science via hands on methods not only develop more interest in science, but also have a better understanding of it. This series provides a variety of formats to guide students in developing that interest.

  1. Creating Science Journals in the Classroom: Observe and Record
  2. Student Expectations and Science
  3. Introduction to Biology Lesson
  4. Elementary Physics Lesson Plan: Performing an Experiment in Matter and Energy