Research
Before we go any further, it is important to find out what is already known about the topic.
You can research a topic by looking up books and magazines in the library, searching on
the Internet, and even talking to people who are experts in the area. By learning about
your topic, you’ll be able to make thoughtful predictions. Your experimental design might
be influenced by what you have researched. Or you might even find that your question
has been researched thoroughly. Although repeating experiments is valid and important in
science, you may choose to introduce new ideas into your investigation, or you may change
your initial question.
Example: The farmer decides to research the topic of no-till farming (Figure1.3). She
finds sources on the Internet, at the library, and at the local farming supply store that discuss
what type of fertilizer might be used and what the best spacing for her crop would be. She
even finds out that no-till farming can be a way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the
atmosphere, which helps in the fight against global warming.
Figure 1.3: The farmer would need to research no-till farming methods. ( 8 )Hypothesis
Now that you have researched the topic, you can make an educated guess or explanation to
the question. This is yourhypothesis.The best hypothesis is directly related to the ques-
tion and is testable, so that you can do experiments to determine whether your hypothesis
is correct.
Example:The farmer has researched her question and developed the following hypothesis: