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Science Shorts: Hypothesis Testing—It’s Okay to Be Wrong

Science and Children—February 2009

Students often seek affirmation from their teachers about their thinking and can be embarrassed at the thought of being “wrong.” In science, we want children to feel comfortable making hypotheses and to know that it’s the investigative process—not being right or wrong—that really counts. In the following activity, students will participate in an experiment where they are likely to formulate a hypothesis that will ultimately be unsupported. Because most of the class will have made similar hypotheses, students won’t feel singled out in being “wrong.” Furthermore, students will see that surprise findings can be more interesting than outcomes that were suspected all along.
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