-+Generating+&+Testing+Hypotheses

__** GENERATING & TESTING HYPOTHESES **__
__ **WHAT?** __ What is a Hypothesis? A hypothesis is a proposed explanation made from limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation. It is an educated guess! It is assumed that the practice of generating hypotheses is solely for the use scientific experimentation. This assumption is false, as the practice of creating and testing hypothesis can be applied in any field of knowledge, such as history or reading. In all simplicity, it is about asking, “What would happen if this instance occurred?” or “What might happen next after a certain event?”

__ **WHY?** __ When you ask a student to generate a hypothesis, you are involving them in an activity and allowing them to really think about the subject. With the knowledge provided, they can provide an educated guess and then check the results to see if they were correct or incorrect. Which in turn, will then give them experience to continue providing more accurate hypotheses.

If we do not learn to engage our students in the thinking and questioning process, then what are we teaching them? Teachers should give students the tools to analyze a situation and comment on it further. Lectures are no fun and most of the minds wander off or are robotically taking notes on the subject without digesting or dissecting the information.
 * Become a part of this Strategy!
 * Incorporate your students into your lesson!
 * Ask **"WHAT IF?!"**

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__ ** HOW? ** __ Incorporating this strategy into a lesson plan is not difficult. If you want a student to LEARN about the subject, what better way to engage them in a thinking activity? There are many different ways to APPLY this strategy.

**ENGLISH TEACHERS** can apply this Strategy while the students are reading a story. Below are some questions that will allow students to generate a hypothesis.
 * What will happen next in the story?
 * What will be the fate of a certain character?
 * What will the ending be like?
 * Did your theories prove to be true or false?

**HISTORY TEACHERS** may apply this strategy when discussing historical events.
 * Early American Civilization
 * What would the Americas be like today if the Spaniards would have not come to explore and conquer?
 * What if another group, such as the Asians, were to have conquered the Americas?
 * Slavery
 * In ancient civilizations, Slavery was not dependent of race. Prisoners of war were often sold into slavery. Parents sold their children into slavery as a means to pay of debts. In the events that a debt could not be paid, adults sold themselves into slavery. Only in the United States did slavery become about race, or the color of your skin.
 * What would the Americas be like if Slavery had continued as a means of paying debt, or of selling prisoners?
 * Would there have been such a segregation of skin color?

**SCIENCE TEACHERS** can apply this strategies in any scientific experiment. An example of a scientific experiment that incorporates a hypothesis can be found on this WebQuest



**__ BENEFITS __** By asking a student to generate questions or possible results you are engaging them in an activity. Students must engage themselves into the activity and THINK about it. As they think of the activity, they are learning, rather than just memorizing a lecture. The students benefit because they learn the subject through thinking and questioning methods. There is no right or wrong answer as the activities could be hypothetical situations.