Week 1 · Nature Detectives

Science

The scientific method outdoors

Form a hypothesis from a real backyard observation and design a simple test.

Pick your age

5-day pacing

Today's focus: learn the concept.

The Hook

Why do worms come out when it rains? Let's act like scientists and figure it out!

The Big Idea

Scientists don't just guess — they ASK, GUESS, TEST, then LOOK.

Learn

A scientist starts with a QUESTION about something they noticed.

Then they make a GUESS (called a hypothesis — that's a fancy word for a smart guess).

Then they TEST the guess by trying something.

Last, they LOOK at what happened and tell what they learned.

See It

The Scientist's Loop

  ❓ ASK  →  💡 GUESS
              ↓
   👀 LOOK ←  🧪 TEST

Key terms

Question: Something you wonder about.
Hypothesis: A smart guess about the answer.
Test: Trying something to see what happens.

Try It (in the app)

Put the scientist steps in order

Put in order

Drag with ↑↓ buttons.

1.Make a guess
2.Do a test
3.Look at what happened
4.Ask a question

Is this a question a scientist could test?

Quick check

1. Do ants like sugar or salt better?
Yes — testableNo
2. Is the moon prettier than the sun?
Yes — testableNo — that's just an opinion
3. Do leaves fall faster than acorns?
Yes — testableNo

Worksheet

Fill in here, or print a blank copy

1. My QUESTION:
2. My GUESS is:
3. How I will TEST it:
4. What HAPPENED:
5. What I LEARNED:

Hands-On Build

Ant taste test

Materials

·Tiny pinch of sugar
·Tiny pinch of salt
·Two plates
·A patch of ants outside

Steps

01Put sugar on one plate, salt on the other.
02Set them 1 foot apart near ants.
03Watch for 10 minutes.
04Count ants on each plate.

Mission Tie-In

Use your science loop on the Mystery of the Missing Ducklings — what's your guess about where they went?

Wrap-Up Discussion

?What did you GUESS would happen?
?What REALLY happened?
?Were you surprised?