Activity title: Scientific Method: Paper Contraption

Description: This inquiry activity is a good way to introduce or to review the steps in the scientific method. The students work in groups to try to recreate a paper structure that doesn’t seem to be possible to make.

Materials needed:

For each student team (2-4 students)

  • 1 previously made contraption made with one plain 3X5 card, glued onto another card for stability
  • 1-2 3x5 cards per student
  • Scissors

Prior knowledge needed: none

Time required: 1period

Special teacher procedures, safety notes, and suggestions:

  • The contraption is constructed by cutting one 3x5 card on the solid lines shown on the picture. You fold the middle flap up at a 90° angle and crease along the dotted line in the picture. Now here is the tricky part. Hold the short ends of the card, one in each hand, and twist it so that one side is now facing downward and the other side is still facing upward. You will notice that the middle flap now looks like it has formed out of nowhere. Glue the contraption down onto a second 3x5 card so the flap is sticking up and the card cannot be untwisted. You can see that if you use the lined cards, it will give the trick away. It doesn’t matter if the students use lined cards, in fact that makes it a little more tricky.
  • Pass out one or two 3x5 card per student. Pass out one prepared “contraption” per group of two or three students. Instruct them that, without touching the contraption, they should look at it and figure out how they can tear and fold their card so that it resembles the top card. Remind them that their card will not have the backing on it, but it should look like the top card, with flaps and holes in the same place. Let them think and work on it for about 5 minutes. Then for their notes, draw analogies between the things that they did to make the contraption with steps in the scientific method.
  • Discussion as you move through the scientific method:
  • What were they trying to do? Make their card look the same. That was their PURPOSE. The purpose is a question that they have or a problem they want to solve. If they were working for a company that developed fabric, they might be asked to develop a new fabric for LL Bean that was light, waterproof, strong and cheap to go into a new backpack.
  • What did they do next? Did they just start tearing and folding? No, they looked carefully at the model to get as much information as they could. This is RESEARCH. Research is when you find out what other people already know about your problem so you don’t have to do things that have already been done. Places to research might be teachers, other scientists, libraries, books, magazines, etc. Research also might be used to find out if there are any hazards involved or to prevent wasting time and materials.
  • After looking enough, they probably had an idea that they thought would work. That idea was the HYPOTHESIS. A hypothesis is a prediction or a good guess that can get you started.
  • After the prediction, then they actually got started with testing and seeing if their idea worked. This testing is called EXPERIMENTATION. There are three main steps to experimenting. First, you think of what you will need to do the plan. This is the Materials section. You will also plan what you are going to do. This is the Procedure section. Sometimes, you are told the steps you will follow and the planning has been done by someone else. After the plan is made, you actually go through the steps. Last, you observe what happens. This part is the Data section.
  • As soon as you do the steps, you see whether or not your ideas worked. This step is ANALYSIS/CONCLUSION. Analysis means that you try to figure out the reasons for what you observed happening. If things didn’t work out they way you hypothesized, try to figure out why. The conclusion is deciding whether your hypothesis was right or not. If it was right, you can go to the next step. If it wasn’t right, you might have to make a new hypothesis, based on what you learned during the experiment step. Then you can do new experimentation to see if the new idea works.
  • If someone’s idea did work, what did the people around him or her do? Everybody wanted to know how he or she did it. That is the COMMUNICATION step. For scientists, it is not enough to find out and know something just yourself. You share the information with others. That way, you can add to their knowledge and see if they get the same answers you do. You may do this step by writing things down in a report or by talking to others.
  • After you are finished going over the ideas, you can demonstrate how to actually make the contraption.

Student sheet or handout (if needed): Overhead master for scientific method follows

Scoring guide: Score is mainly for participation. Make sure all students in each group help come up with suggestions for building the contraption.

Scientific Method:

  • PURPOSE: a question that you have or a problem you want to solve.
  • RESEARCH: find out what other people already know about your problem. Includes teachers, other scientists, libraries, Internet, etc.
  • HYPOTHESIS: a prediction or a good guess.
  • EXPERIMENTATION: doing tests see if your hypothesis is correct.
  • Materials: What equipment and supplies are needed.
  • Procedure: The step by step directions section.
  • Data: Observations and what you can measure.
  • ANALYSIS: try to figure out the reasons for what you observed happening.
  • CONCLUSION: decide whether your hypothesis was right or not. If it was right, go to the next step. If it was wrong, make a new hypothesis, based on what you learned. Then do new experimentation to see if the new idea works.
  • COMMUNICATION: share the information with others.