Kayla groaned as she joined Kobe and Jenny at a table.
"I hate science experiments."
"Science experiments are fun," Jenny said.
"We just need a good idea."
Kayla sighed. "I'm sick of making volcanoes explode."
"We could grow mold," Kobe said.
Jenny made a face. "Mold is gross."
Kayla looked bored.
She ripped a sheet of paper from her notebook.
Jenny frowned.
"Mr. Netter said we're supposed to work together, Kayla.
You're not helping us."
Kayla was folding wings on a paper airplane.
"Let's test this plane."
"Huh?" Kobe said.
"We can measure how far it flies," Kayla said.
"Good idea!" Kobe said.
"It sounds scientific and fun," Jenny agreed.
She looked at her notebook.
"Step one of the scientific method is to ask questions."
"How about, how does weight affect flight distance?" Kobe said.
Everyone nodded.
Jenny wrote down the question.
"Next we have to come up with a hypothesis.
That's a guess about what will happen."
The kids did some research about airplane flight.
"Hmm," said Kayla. "I think a lighter plane will fly farther."
"Me too," Kobe said.
"That's our hypothesis: a light paper plane will fly farther."
Jenny wrote it down.
"To test our hypothesis, we'll have to change the plane's weight."
Kobe got some paperclips.
"We can use these to add weight."
Kayla grabbed her airplane. "Let's find a runway!"
The kids went out into the hallway.
Kayla threw the plane and Kobe measured where it stopped.
"My turn!" said Kobe.
"We should try to throw the plane the same way each time," said Jenny.
"So Kayla should keep flying the plane."
Kayla flew the plane several more times and Kobe measured each flight's distance.
Next they added two paperclips to the plane.
They flew and measured several more times.
Jenny recorded the results.
"Let's try four paperclips now," Kayla said.
They flew the plane again.
"Time to analyze our data!" Kobe said.
"Uh-oh." Jenny studied the results with a frown.
"Our plane flew farthest with two paperclips.
Our hypothesis was incorrect."
"That's okay," Kobe said.
"Mr. Netter said a science experiment is for testing ideas.
Even if your hypothesis is incorrect, you still learn stuff."
Kayla grinned. "I learned something—science experiments can be fun!"