How to Teach Experimental Design in Science: Helping Students Design a Scientific Experiment

🔬 How to Teach Students to Design an Experiment

How do you teach students how to design an experiment from start to finish? Teaching experimental design can feel overwhelming, but with the right instruction and simple starter labs, students can successfully plan, carry out, and analyze their own scientific investigations.

Learning how to design an experiment is one of the most important science skills students will develop. However, guiding students through writing procedures, identifying variables, designing data tables, and drawing conclusions takes intentional instruction and practice.

If your students need structured support before designing their own experiment, my Scientific Method PowerPoint and Notes set provides guided instruction and practice with variables, controls, and hypothesis writing. It is designed to build the foundation students need before moving into student designed labs.

Many teachers wonder what the first step is when designing an experiment. Before students can design a scientific experiment independently, they must understand variables, controls, and how to structure a lab investigation.

Why Teaching Experimental Design Matters

Students must move beyond memorizing the steps of the scientific method. They need to apply those steps to real problems. When students design their own experiment, they develop critical thinking, problem solving, and analytical skills that extend far beyond one lab activity.

Teaching experimental design does take time. It requires modeling, structured practice, and patience. But the payoff is worth it. When students can independently design and carry out an experiment, they demonstrate true understanding of scientific thinking.

Teaching the Scientific Method Before Students Design the Experiment

Before students design their own experiment, they must understand how the scientific method works in practice. Starting with a simple experiment design helps students focus on structure rather than complex content.

Students should be able to:

• Identify independent and dependent variables

• Recognize control groups

• Explain constants

• Write a testable hypothesis

• Analyze data

If your students need structured instruction before moving into student-designed labs, a guided lesson on applying the scientific method can provide that foundation. Direct instruction combined with practice examples builds the confidence students need before they begin working independently.  If your students need structured instruction before designing their own experiment, this Scientific Method PowerPoint and Notes Set provides guided instruction and practice with variables, controls, and hypothesis writing.

Teach Students How to Write a Clear and Repeatable Lab Procedure

One of the most overlooked parts of experimental design is writing a clear and repeatable procedure.

Before asking students to design a full experiment, have them practice writing step-by-step lab instructions.

A simple and engaging activity is to give students building materials such as:

• Legos

• Jenga blocks

• Tinker toys

• Gumdrops and toothpicks

• Pipe cleaners

• Paper clips

  

  
  

Students build a structure and then write detail instructions explaining how to recreate it. Their partner follows only the written procedure to attempt to rebuild the structure

This activity highlights:

• The importance of clarity

• The need for precise language

• The value of sequential organization

• Why vague instructions cause experimental error

Once students see how difficult it is to follow unclear directions, they better understand why strong procedures matter in science. This activity, Can You Write a Clear and Concise Lab Procedure, is perfect for this instructional step.

Start With a Simple Student Designed Experiment Lab

When students are ready to design their own experiment, start simple.

For our first student-designed investigation, students tested the effect of different quantities of water on radish seed germination.

This topic works well because:

• Variables are limited

• The procedure is manageable

• Results appear quickly

• No advanced background knowledge is required

Radish seeds germinate within 24 hours, allowing students to collect data over several days and observe measurable differences. The first time I tried this, I was surprised at how quickly the radish seeds germinated. Within 24 hours, my students were already arguing about which group had the strongest results.

What Students Must Include When Designing an Experiment

When students design their own experiment, they must complete each of the following components:

• State a testable hypothesis

• Write a detailed procedure

• Identify the independent variable

• Identify the dependent variable

• Describe the control group

• Explain experimental groups

• Identify constants

• Design a data table

• Create a graph

• Form a conclusion based on collected data

Providing this checklist helps students organize their thinking and ensures that all critical elements of experimental design are included.

Student Designed Experiment Lab Activities for Your Classroom

If you are looking for more ways to incorporate student-designed investigations into your classroom, here are a few additional lab activities:

• The Student Designed Lab

• Measuring the Heart Rate in Daphnia

• Making Coacervates

Each of these labs provides structured guidance while still allowing students to take ownership of the experimental design process.

Final Thoughts on Teaching Experimental Design

Teaching students how to design an experiment is not a quick lesson. It requires modeling, guided practice, and gradual release of responsibility. However, when students are given the opportunity to plan and carry out their own investigations, they develop confidence and true scientific understanding.

Experimental design is a skill that students will carry with them far beyond your classroom. Whether you are teaching middle school or high school, structured practice in experiment design builds long-term scientific reasoning skills.

Looking for more information on a ready-to-use student designed experiment lab activity? Read my post on implementing a full student designed lab in your classroom.

Frequently Asked Questions About Teaching Experimental Design

What is the first step when teaching students to design an experiment?

The first step is ensuring students understand the scientific method and can identify independent and dependent variables, control groups, and constants. Before students design a scientific experiment independently, they need structured instruction and guided practice.

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How do you help students design a simple experiment?

Start with a simple experiment design that limits variables and focuses on structure. Choose a topic that does not require advanced background knowledge so students can concentrate on writing procedures, identifying variables, and organizing data.

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What should students include when designing a scientific experiment?

Students should include a testable hypothesis, detailed procedure, identified variables, control group, constants, data table, graph, and conclusion based on collected data.

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Why is experimental design important in science class?

Teaching experimental design helps students develop critical thinking, problem solving, and analytical skills. When students design their own experiments, they move from following directions to thinking like scientists.

Middle School Bundle of Products!! Great for Back to School!

Are you really ready for Back to School?  So many things to plan for... reading, writing, math, science, social studies, the arts!  Well, I have teamed up with some other amazing sellers and Educents to help you get ready with this amazing deal!

27 Back to School items for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade range students!  

Here's my contribution the bundle:

Cell Structure and Function PowerPoint with Notes for Teacher and Student

This product is perfect for any biology or life science class.  The lessons cover all aspects of cell structure and function.  Great photographs and fun graphics keep the students engaged.

All together there are over 900 pages in this bundle to keep your student/s learning throughout the year!   

Check out all the other great bloggers and what they are offering by clicking on their links below!

Click here to head on over to Educents to take advantage of this limited time bundle to get your 6th, 7th, and 8th graders ready for success!

Significant Digits Help!

What can you do when kids don't get it?

Each year when I teach significant digits to my chemistry classes, I feel like I am banging my head against a wall!  Most of my students will diligently learn the rules for determining the number of significant digits in a measurement.   They can look at 50.00 and tell me that it has 4 significant digits.  But I always get the feeling that some of them never really understand why they are learning these rules and what they mean.

In an effort to help my students grasp the concept, I started doing this significant digit lab each year.  The materials list is super simple: a wood block, three different balances, and three different rulers.  Students begin by measuring the length, width and height of their wood block using a diagram of three different rulers.

They are frustrated by the first ruler.  They don't like having to estimate!  I quickly get the students to understand that the first ruler has only one significant digit, the second ruler has two, and the third ruler has 3.  They use the measured length, width, and height to determine the volume.

Next students get the mass of their wood block using three different balances.

Now that the volume and the mass is known, students must calculate the density of the wood block to one significant digit, two significant digits, and three significant digits.  We then calculate the percent error, using our three-significant-digit density as the true value.  Wow!  Kids quickly realize how important significant digits are to a measurement.

Throw in an additional page of practice problems on rounding and calculating with significant digits, and I'll call this day a success!  I hope you are off to a great school year.  I'd love to hear your ideas on significant digits!

Common Core Back-to-School eBooks!

The Common Core State Standards Back-to-School eBooks

Packed with Tips and Freebies!

Welcome back to school, teachers!  Many of us have already started back to school, and many of you will soon join us. The implementation of Common Core standards is weighing heavily on many teachers as we return to the classroom this fall.

These Common Core eBooks are just the ticket to help you get started. Over the summer, over 200 teacher/authors submitted pages for the eBooks.  There are 8 different eBooks, each one specific to a certain grade range and subject area.

The woman behind the idea is my good friend, Tracee Orman.  She has spent countless hours contacting teachers, organizing, and directing the publication of these 8 fantastic eBooks.

What will you find in the eBook?

Each teacher in the eBook submitted a single page.  Each page has a tip for implementing the Common Core standards, and most importantly, each page contains a link to a free CCSS lesson.  

So let's get started! There are 8 different eBooks.  Below are the links to each. Please download and share with your friends and fellow teachers.

We hope you have a great school year!

Click on the pictures below to download your FREE eBook.

Common Core Graphic Organizers for Science Informational Text

Be sure to download the free graphic organizers!

Let's just face it....  Most of us have to start implementing the Common Core standards into our science classrooms. The standards cover many skills and components, but the majority of the standards deal with the reading of informational text.

I have been contending all along, that ALL reading passages in a science class involve informational text.  Our students read the textbook, current events articles, the lab manual / handouts, etc.  Out class is nothing BUT informational text.   So what needs to change in our science classroom?

Many of us need to change the WAY we teach our students to read science passages:

• We must move away from the memorization of large volumes of facts.
• We must teach our students how to identify the main idea, the author's purpose, etc.
• Our students must be able to cite evidence to support scientific claims.
• Students must be able to compare and contrast.
• Students must be able to summarize.
• Students must be able to identify the control and experimental variables in an experiment, citing evidence to support conclusions reached in an experiment.
• Students must be able to express quantitative information in words.
• Students must be able to express technical information in a flow chart or concept map.

To sum it up, we must do a better job in teaching critical reading, critical thinking, problem solving, and how to pull out the important information in a reading passage.

Like you, I have been looking for the best ways to accomplish all of this in my classroom.  To date, the most effective tool I have is ... the graphic organizer.

What is so great about the graphic organizer?  First and foremost, it gives the student a place to start.  If you hand a student a reading passage and a blank sheet of paper and instruct them to "analyze the passage", most of them are overwhelmed and have no idea how to begin.  A graphic organizer is not a crutch, it is a tool.  It helps to guide the student through the reading passage.  The graphic organizer teaches the student how to read the informational text.  

Take as an example, the graphic organizer in the above photo.  The instructions say:  As you read the passage, identify the claims being made by the author.  What evidence does the author provide to support his/her claim?"  Now the student has a reason to read the text.  Now the student knows what to look for while reading the text.

I have together a bundle of different types of graphic organizers.  Many graphic organizers I have seen are rather generic in nature.  I have tried to make mine a bit more specific.  Each is designed for a particular type of text and a particular Common Core standard.  They look the best in color, but print out just fine in black and white.  I am unable to make color copies at my school, and the black/white copies work just as well.

I have both free and paid graphic organizer products in my TpT store.  

Here are the free ones!  :)

Click above photo to download.

Good luck with your implementation of the Common core standards, and have a great school year!

Metric Measurement Task Cards

Metric Measurement:  Students should know it, but do they remember it?

At the beginning of each new school year I take time to review and reinforce metric measurement skills. My students are in high school, and they should know this stuff, right?  The answer to that is both yes and no.  Most of my students come to me very well prepared.  I have no complaints about the teachers they had before me.....their teachers did an excellent job preparing them for my chemistry or AP Biology class.  For many of my incoming students, it seems they have the knowledge they need, but over the summer this knowledge sinks down deep into their brains and must be retrieved and/or rediscovered.

A student in my class is definitely going to need the skill of metric measurement.  They need to be able to quickly and easily use a meter stick, a graduated cylinder, and a balance. We do a lot of "mental math", so they need to be able to estimate and convert between units.

On the first or second day of school, I quickly assess the metric skills of my students and plan a lesson or two accordingly.  If you are a teacher you know that each year brings us a very different group of students. Some years all my students need is a very light refresher lesson, and other years they need much more instruction.

Whatever the ability level of your students, a great way to get them back into "thinking metric" is through the use of task cards.  Task cards are a fantastic way to reinforce lessons, review difficult concepts, or provide extra practice for the struggling student.   The student reads each card, performs the task, and records his/her answer on the included student answer sheet.

My set of Metric Measurement Task Cards contains 90 cards.  They range in difficulty from easy to hard.  I like that I can "customize" instruction by picking and choosing from the set of cards.  I never put students into groups during class time based on ability level, but I do have students who come to me both before and after school for tutoring.  At these times, I can provide the student with a set of task cards perfect for their needs.

There are many reasons I enjoy using task cards with my students:

• They are great for early finishers.  Especially during lab time, some students are simply going to finish early.  Task cards are kept in the lab and are perfect for enrichment.
• Task cards are a wonderful tool for tutoring.
• A student can be given certain task cards that are unique to the needs of that student.  
• Task cards can be set up in a lab practical format.  My students love being able to get up and move around rather than being confined to a desk for the entire class period.
• Task cards can be hung on a peg board and given to the student for reinforcement at any time of the year.
• Task cards are a wonderful way to review for a unit test or a semester exam.

I have found that if I spend some time at the beginning of the school year getting my students to "think metric" again, the rest of the year goes much smoother.   

Good luck with your teaching and have a great school year!

Whale Watching in Juneau Alaska

Bubble Net Feeding in Humpback Whales

This absolutely tops my list of the most incredible things I have ever seen in my life.   I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to Alaska this summer with my husband and 2 daughters.  It was the trip of a lifetime....one that we had saved and planned for for years.  Of all the amazing wonders of Alaska, perhaps the most amazing was our day of whale watching.

My expectations prior to the excursion were very basic.  I expected to see one or two whales at great distance.  Maybe I would see a few tails break the surface of the water, and if I was very lucky, perhaps I would see a breaching.  My actual experience was so much more.  My actual experience was one like you might see on a National Geographic video!!

Of course, I had a camera, but I was not prepared to take video of the whales.  I really didn't think we would get close enough to get a good video.  So when a pod of 16 HUMPBACK WHALES suddenly surfaced beside our boat, I was totally unprepared.  You are about to see several segments of video, all taken with my iPhone!  The commentary you will hear is from my family.  The references to "crying" are about me.  I became quite emotional watching the whales.  It was something I had only dreamed of, and I had no idea how awe-inspring this experience would be.

As you watch this first movie, make sure that you set your computer to full screen and that you have the volume turned up. Listen to the sound of the whales!  The sound of their breathing was incredible, and we were close enough that the spray from their blow holes hit us in the face.    Humpbacks have an enormous lung capacity.  This makes it possible for them to dive to depths of 500 feet and remain underwater up to 20 minutes.  And when they surface...WOW!!! ... the blow is loud and the water vapor shoots up into the sky.

Also, you will notice quite a few boats around the whales.  Do not be concerned about this!  I am the biggest "nature lover" on the planet, and I can promise you that the whales were unconcerned about the boats or the people talking.  The captain of our boat explained that they (boat captains) are not allowed to chase the whales.  Our captain took us to an area known to be frequented by whales.  One we arrived in the area, the captain was required to kill the engine and let the boat drift.  All of the boats that you will see were doing likewise.

Now comes the really, really amazing part.  We witnessed the bubble net feeding technique!  Apparently this method of feeding is not seen in all pods of whales.  It is unique to the humpbacks that migrate to the southeastern areas of Alaska, and it is a learned behavior.

This pod of humpbacks numbered 16.  In the above video, when you see their tail come out of the water, they are diving.  They dive to a depth of about 50 to 60 meters to find a school of fish.  The feeding technique involves an amazing division of labor.  Each whale has a job to do to ensure that the fish (herring in this case) are rounded up for maximum feeding.  One whale is the bubble blower.  This whale releases a stream of bubbles from the blowhole while underneath the school of fish.   As the bubbles rise to the surface, the herring are caught in this bubble net and carried along with the bubbles to the surface.  Other whales begin vocalizing to scare and confuse the fish into a tighter ball.  Other whales herd the fish together and force them upward.  From below this tightly gathered school of fish, the whales lunge to the surface with their mouths wide open, scooping in large numbers of fish.  Before the whales surfaced we could actually hear their vocalizations under the water.

Quick facts about humpback whales:

• They grow up to 50 feet long and may weight 70,000 pounds.
• They give birth to a single calf and their gestation period is 11.5 months.
• They are baleen whales, and filter their food from the water.  Food may consist of tiny frill and small fish.  

For more information, you might want to check this site called the Juneau Humpback Whale Catalog.  It has great information and really great pictures!

If you want some lesson plans and activities to do with your students, check out this lesson on Humpback whales on the National Geographic Education web site.