Asking Good Science Questions

You will learn how to ask science questions and name problems after you notice something interesting.

Scientists start with noticing. An observation is something you learn by using your senses, like seeing, hearing, or feeling. Imagine you walk out to the school parking lot on a hot Texas afternoon. You touch the metal slide on the playground, and it is burning hot. But the plastic seat on the swing feels warm, not hot. That is an observation. Now your brain wants to know why.

A good science question can be tested or looked up. You might ask, "Does metal get hotter in the sun than plastic?" That is a strong question because you could measure it with a thermometer. A weaker question would be, "Is the slide mean?" Nobody can measure that. Good questions often begin with words like what, why, how, or does.

You can also ask questions about things you read or see in a model. A model is a drawing, map, or object that stands for something real. If you read that Texas summers are getting hotter, you might ask, "How could our playground stay cooler?" Now you are defining a problem, which means saying clearly what needs to be fixed and what would make a good solution. Your problem might be, "The slide is too hot to touch by noon, and we need a safe way to cool it."

Notice the difference. A question asks about how the world works. A problem asks you to design something better. Both start the same way, with careful noticing.

So keep a list of your wonderings. Write down what you see, then turn it into a question you can actually test.

Try it: You notice that puddles on the sidewalk disappear faster than puddles in the shade under a tree. What is one question you could test about that?