Fortunately, my disappointment wasn't necessary, as further study showed that generating and testing hypotheses is simply guess and check (well, with a little thought behind the guessing part). Matt Kuhn posted on the McREL blog about a music teacher who had her students create a song as generating and testing hypothesis (2009). This is the kind of lesson I prefer, and I believe it leaves a lasting impression on my students because they are able to become physically involved in their projects and make informed decisions about them.
This week in music class, I decided to do a cross-curricular lesson involving art, music, and science. This year, my third grade students have studied simple machines in class. While looking through one of our music books, I noticed a song about a toy, had a Rube Goldberg invention next to it. We learned the song, and looked at how Rube Goldberg's design used everyday items in strange ways to come up with a specific outcome.
My students were given the task of creating a plan that involved at least 8 separate steps to make an instrument create a sound. After they finished the drawing, they had to label the steps just like Rube Goldberg did, and present their contraptions on the document camera so everyone could see. I was amazed at the creativity as well as the realism the students put into their contraptions as well as the huge range of instruments chosen. After our presentations were finished, one of my students asked me how our project was related to music. I told him that they all proved to me they knew how a variety of instruments worked without their human counterparts to play them, and some students invented a new kind of instrument altogether!
Kuhn, M. (2009, June 22). Generating and testing hypothesis is not just for science. [Blog message]. Retrieved from http://mcrel.typepad.com/mcrel_blog/2009/06/generating-and-testing-hypotheses-is-not-just-for-science.html
To top it all off...without generating and testing a hypothesis, we wouldn't have these!
