Problem Statement

The problem statement should be a sentence or two describing what it is you are trying to find out. It should not be too broad, but rather focus on the variable that you are testing.

Think of the penny lab. We dropped water on a penny and counted the number of drops that fit on to it. Then we changed something to see if the change had an effect on the results.

o The first test was our control. Say we started on the heads side. We did the experiment several times and got an average. This gives us a baseline to work with.

If we flip the penny over, we have changed something. We have introduced a variable. We now run the same amount of tests the same exact way. We compare those numbers to our control numbers to see if the variable made a difference.

A good problem statement would be…..The problem we are trying to figure out is will the number of drops that fit on a penny be affected by which side is facing up? Or …Will one side of a penny hold more drops of water than the other side of the penny? Notice that the variable is included in your problem statement.

The variable is which side is facing up. We are keeping the experiment controlled by keeping everything the same (dropper, water, height we drop it from) but the side that is facing up. We then are comparing the results from one side to the other side.

Hypothesis- The hypothesis statement should be a guess as to what will happen. You should try to explain why you chose your guess too. So, for the penny lab, it would not be enough to say “ I think the tails side will hold more drops than the heads side”.

It would be better to say “I think the tails side will hold more drops than the heads side because it Abe Lincolns head bulges out of the heads side and uses up space.”