Middle School Science Current Objectives

We will use the four question strategy to design experiments (investigations). We

will use the scientific method (investigation process) to answer questions and find
solutions to problems. We do this in the spirit of KUUMBA, to leave our community
and the world better than we find it.
HABIT #5 Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
Next Generation Science Standard: MS-ETS1-1

Steps in the scientific method:

Observation (What do you see that interests you?)

Question/Problem (What do you want to find out?)
Hypothesis (An if,, then, statement that predicts a possible answer or solution)
Experiment (materials and procedure)
Results (What happened? This is about the data, the facts you recorded.)
Conclusion (What you learned)
Communicate (Share what you learned)

Four Question Strategy:

Question 1: What materials are readily available for conducting experiments on _______?
Question 2: What does __________do? How does it act?
Question 3: How can I change the set of _______ materials to affect the action?
Question 4: How can I measure or describe the response of __________ to the change?
(Cothron, Giese, and Rezba 1989, p. 28)

Example of the 4 Question Strategy:

test subject: SEEDS
1. What materials are readily available for conducting experiments on your test subject?
SEEDS, WATER, CONTAINERS, SOIL, LIGHT, FERTILIZER
2. How will the subject respond?
SEEDS WILL GERMINATE AND GROW.
3. How can you change the set of materials to affect the response of your subject?
SEEDS, SOIL, LIGHT KIND, AMOUNT, NATURAL OR ARTIFICIAL, NUMBER, TYPE,
DURATION, ORIENTATION IN SOIL, STERILITY, INTENSITY, SPACING, MOISTURE CONTENT,
WAVELENGTH
4. How can you measure or describe the response to the change?
(This will be the dependent variable.)
COUNT THE NUMBER OF SEEDS THAT GERMINATE MEASURE STEM LENGTH DETERMINE
GERMINATION RATE MEASURE GROWTH RATE CALCULATE PERCENTAGE OF SEEDS THAT
GERMINATE MEASURE ROOT LENGTH