Just Cause

A hypothesis is a science guess. We use it to guess the cause of an effect. As scientists we guess causes. We observe (see) effects.

A good hypothesis takes "If _______, then _________" form. The "if" is the guess, or cause. The "then" is the observation, or effect.

Say I drop a penny from the tallest building in the Bronx:

If I drop a penny from the roof, then the penny makes a hole in someone's head on the ground.

Doctors create hypotheses all the time! They observe someone is sick, then explain why. The same is true of earth scientists: They see the Earth is polluted, or dirty, then tell us how we can make it better.

What do you hypothesize the Bronx will look like after 100 years of pollution?

*Graphic courtesy edventures.com