The Helicopter Hypothesis

A lesson in scientific inquiry

Teacher’s Notes, page 1

• Background:– Students should already know how to identify

and use observation, inference, and prediction.– Students should be familiar with Cornell note

strategies.• This introductory lesson will be

accompanied by a laboratory experiment and data analysis.

Teacher’s Notes, page 2

• Action Steps incorporated into this lesson:– Identification of critical-input experiences– Presentation of information in small chunks

with room for student input– Student-written conclusion (in Cornell format)– Student reflection of learning

Teacher’s Notes, page 3

Continued• Action Steps incorporated into this lesson:

– Providing students with opportunities to practice learning

– Use of games focused on academic content– Incorporation of unusual information

Student Lesson begins on next slide

The Helicopter Hypothesis

A lesson in scientific inquiry

Notes

I. Notes Notes Notes

A. notes notes notes notes notes notes

B. notes notes notes

C. notes notes notes

Using your Cornell frame

Main ideas

Key terms

Questions

Cartoons - A brief summary

- Connections to other things you know

Objective• Students will be able to:

– Define/explain several important terms used in scientific inquiry

– Apply these terms in a real-life scientific inquiry challenge

Brainbuster!What is the only bird that can fly

both forwards and backwards?

Brainbuster!Answer:

the hummingbird

hummingbird

helicopter

paper helicopter of science!

Today’s Important Terms:Scientific Inquiry

Hypothesis

Independent VariableDependent Variable

Uncontrolled Variable

Control Group

What is Scientific Inquiry?• It is the process of using

observations, inferences, predictions and experiments to learn about the world

• It is an ongoing process of discovery• It is used in all types of science, but

also in other areas, and even regular daily life!

Example: Scientific InquiryUh oh! I turn on my radio, but no music

comes out.

Maybe the radio is unplugged?

If the radio is unplugged, then plugging it in will start the music.

I’ll check and see if the plug is plugged

into the wall.

Yep, the plug is plugged in.

The plug isn’t my problem.

Something else must be wrong.

observation

inference

predictionexperiment

data analysis

conclusion

Example: Scientific InquiryUh oh! I turn on my radio, but no music

comes out.

Maybe the radio is unplugged?

If the radio is unplugged, then plugging it in will start the music.

I’ll check and see if the plug is plugged

into the wall.

Yep, the plug is plugged in.

The plug isn’t my problem.

Something else must be wrong.

prediction

hypothesis

Today’s Important Terms:Scientific Inquiry

Hypothesis

Independent VariableDependent Variable

Uncontrolled Variable

Control Group

What is a Hypothesis?• It is a prediction • It is almost always based on

observations and inferences• It is testable• It is my best guess of what will

happen

Today’s Important Terms:Scientific Inquiry

Hypothesis

Independent VariableDependent Variable

Uncontrolled Variable

Control Group

What is a Control Group?• It is the unchanged (“normal”)

stuff in an experiment where I am testing different conditions

• It is something to which I can compare my test results

• It’s sometimes just called a control

Control =Comparison

Today’s Important Terms:Scientific Inquiry

Hypothesis

Independent VariableDependent Variable

Uncontrolled Variable

Control Group

What is an Independent Variable?

• It is the condition I change in an experiment

• I change it because I want to see what will happen

• I should change only one thing at a time

• I’m in charge of it!Independent Variable =

I change it

Today’s Important Terms:Scientific Inquiry

Hypothesis

Independent VariableDependent Variable

Uncontrolled Variable

Control Group

What is a Dependent Variable?

• It is the data I collect• It is the observation I make after

testing my independent variable• It is the result of my experiment• It depends on what I changed

Dependent Variable =Data that Depends

Today’s Important Terms:Scientific Inquiry

Hypothesis

Independent VariableDependent Variable

Uncontrolled Variable

Control Group

What is an Uncontrolled Variable?

• It is a source of error• It is an unexpected mistake or

event in my experiment• It may be unavoidable• It may make my data unreliable• It is generally unwanted!

Uncontrolled Variable =Unexpected, Unreliable

Quick Quiz

What do you call a prediction, or educated guess?

Scientific InquiryHypothesis

Independent VariableDependent Variable

Uncontrolled Variable

Control Group

What is the thing that I change in an experiment?

Scientific InquiryHypothesis

Independent VariableDependent Variable

Uncontrolled Variable

Control Group

What is the thing that remains unchanged in an experiment?

Scientific InquiryHypothesis

Independent VariableDependent Variable

Uncontrolled Variable

Control Group

What do you call the data that you collect in an experiment?

Scientific InquiryHypothesis

Independent VariableDependent Variable

Uncontrolled Variable

Control Group

What do you call the things that may cause errors in your

experiment?Scientific Inquiry

Hypothesis

Independent VariableDependent Variable

Uncontrolled Variable

Control Group

What do you call the process of doing experiments to learn

answers?Scientific Inquiry

Hypothesis

Independent VariableDependent Variable

Uncontrolled Variable

Control Group

The Helicopter Hypothesis• To practice using

all these parts of scientific inquiry, you will build and test paper helicopters

• Your goal is to figure out what will make them stay in the air the longest

Hypothesis

The Helicopter Hypothesis

What I think will happen

Scientific Inquiry

Independent Variable

Dependent VariableUncontrolled Variable

Control GroupA regular helicopter What I change

Possible mistakes What actually happens

The entire experiment

The Helicopter Hypothesis• In your next

lessons, you will perform the experiment and examine your data

• You’ll learn more about scientific inquiry by really using it!

Objective• Students will be able to:

– Define/explain several important terms used in scientific inquiry

– Apply these terms in a real-life scientific inquiry challenge

Notes

I. Notes Notes Notes

A. notes notes notes notes notes notes

B. notes notes notes

C. notes notes notes

Using your Cornell frame

Main ideas

Key terms

Questions

Cartoons - A brief summary

- Connections to other things you know