Hypothesis

Hypothesis

What is it?

A hypothesis is a guess as to why something happens. Observations lead to questions regarding the event. Why is the sky blue? How does gravity affect falling objects? In attempting to answer a question about the nature of the world, a scientist will form a hypothesis (or a guess) regarding the question's answer.

Give me an example!

If you have ever made a guess about how something works, you have made a hypothesis. How does the car start? Why can dogs have more than one puppy? How do bees know where the flowers are?
Any of these questions are the start of a hypothesis! If you then try to answer your own question by observing or thinking about it, you've come up with a hypothesis.

Scientists make hypotheses all the time. That is how scientists can come up with new medicines and products, and how they think up ideas how to use things we already have in different ways.