forming a hypothesis middle school

The Scientific Method Lesson Plan: Developing Hypotheses

Submitted by: charlie conway.

This is a lesson plan designed to be incorporated into a elementary or middle school general science class. Using BrainPOP and its resources, students will be introduced (or further exposed) to the steps necessary to undertake scientific experimentation leading (perhaps) to a Science Fair project. The Scientific Method is a core structure in learning about scientific inquiry, and although there are many variations of this set of procedures, they all usually have similar components. This lesson should take 45-60 minutes, with opportunities for extending the lesson further.

Students will:

• Students will use BrainPOP features to build their understandings of the Scientific Method.
• Students will learn how to identify and write effective hypotheses.
• Students will use game play to write an appropriate hypothesis for an experiment.
• Students will identify and utilize the tools necessary to design a scientific investigation.
• Laptops/Computers
• Interactive White Board
• Pencil/Paper
• Class set of photocopies of the Scientific Method Flow Chart
• BrainPOP accounts (optional)

Vocabulary:

Preparation:.

These procedures may be modified according to the needs/resources of each teacher & class. For example, you may decide to do the quiz with pencil/paper, or do the quiz as a class.

Lesson Procedure:

• Ask the students how scientists answer questions and solve problems. Take a few minutes to explore students' prior knowledge with a short discussion.
• Tell the class that you're going to watch a BrainPOP movie about answering a scientific question about plant growth.
• Show the BrainPOP movie on the Scientific Method two times. The first time, students should just watch and listen. The second time they should take notes. Pause the movie at critical STOP points.
• Students should log on to their individual student accounts and take the Scientific Method Quiz to give the teacher some immediate feedback. (This can also be done as a pre-assessment, or at the very end of the lesson). NOTE: If you choose to, you can give a pencil/paper quiz also; students who work best with electronic media can be given accommodations). If you don't have access to individual student logins via MyBrainPOP (a school subscription), students can take the Review Quiz or paper quiz instead.
• Discuss the main points from the movie: a. Write the definition of the scientific method: the procedure scientists use to help explain why things happen. b. Make a list on the board of the steps mentioned as part of the scientific method: problem, fact finding, observation, inference, hypothesis, experiment, conclusions. c. Tell students that there are various versions of the scientific method that they may see, but they are all basically the same.
• Hand out the Scientific Method Flow Chart . Introduce the "If...then...because..." format for writing hypotheses. Give the students 10 minutes to complete the sheet with their group. They may use their notes from the movie to help them, and/or work collaboratively with other students.
• Discuss some of the student responses in class. Focus on the hypotheses, and explain that a good hypothesis is a testable explanation of the problem. For example, a good hypothesis to the third problem would be, "If I move farther away from the microwave oven, then the cell phone signal will improve because I am further away from the source of interference." Show how this is a TESTABLE hypothesis that can lead to a scientific experiment.
• Introduce the students to the Pavlov’s Dog game in GameUP. Allow time for the kids to explore the game without telling them why they are playing it.
• After 10-15 minutes, have the students take a break from playing, and have a short discussion about the game. Ask if anyone was able to complete the task successfully, and have them share how they got the "diploma." If time allows, show the students how to complete the task so that they all understand that the dog has been conditioned to respond to a stimulus (noise before food has been introduced).
• Have the students write a hypothesis that Pavlov may have written before he started his experiment. Students can either do this with pencil/paper, or the teacher may create a BrainPOP quiz and have students submit their hypothesis electronically. This may be used as a part of the assessment.
• Choose some sample responses from the students, highlighting the hypotheses that are TESTABLE, and not just guesses or predictions.

If this lesson is an introduction to allowing students to plan and carry out their own experiments, then all that follows is naturally an extension to the lesson.

Other, shorter extensions are easy to develop as well.

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1.3: Scientific Method

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How do scientists obtain new knowledge?

All the information in textbooks had to come from somewhere. In the sciences, new information about the natural world is a result of scientific investigations. These investigations are shaped by the scientific method.

Scientific Method

The scientific method is a process used to investigate the unknown (Figure below). It is the general process of a scientific investigation . This process uses evidence and testing. Scientists use the scientific method so they can find information. A common method allows all scientists to answer questions in a similar way. Scientists who use this method can reproduce another scientist's experiments.

Almost all versions of the scientific method include the following steps, although some scientists do use slight variations.

• Make observations.
• Identify a question you would like to answer based on the observation.
• Find out what is already known about your observation (research).
• Form a hypothesis .
• Test the hypothesis.
• Analyze your results and draw conclusions.
• Communicate your results.

Making Observations

Imagine that you are a scientist. While collecting water samples at a local pond, you notice a frog with five legs instead of four (Figure below). As you start to look around, you discover that many of the frogs have extra limbs, extra eyes, or no eyes. One frog even has limbs coming out of its mouth. These are your observations , or things you notice about an environment using your five senses.

Identify a Question Based on Your Observations

The next step is to ask a question about the frogs. You may ask, "Why are so many frogs deformed?" Or, "Is there something in their environment causing these defects, like water pollution?" Yet, you do not know if this large number of deformities is "normal" for frogs. What if many of the frogs found in ponds and lakes all over the world have similar deformities? Before you look for causes, you need to find out if the number and kind of deformities is unusual. So besides finding out why the frogs are deformed, you should also ask: "Is the percentage of deformed frogs in this pond greater than the percentage of deformed frogs in other places?"

Research Existing Knowledge About the Topic

No matter what you observe, you need to find out what is already known about your questions. For example, is anyone else doing research on deformed frogs? If yes, what did they find out? Do you think that you should repeat their research to see if it can be duplicated? During your research, you might learn something that convinces you to change or refine your question. From this, you will construct your hypothesis.

Construct a Hypothesis

A hypothesis is a proposed explanation that tries to explain an observation. A good hypothesis allows you to make more predictions. For example, you might hypothesize that a pesticide from a nearby farm is running into the pond and causing frogs to have extra legs. If that's true, then you can predict that the water in a pond of non-deformed frogs will have lower levels of that pesticide. That's a prediction you can test by measuring pesticide levels in two sets of ponds, those with deformed frogs and those with nothing but healthy frogs. Every hypothesis needs to be written in a way that it can:

• Be tested using experiments to collect evidence.
• Be proven wrong.
• Provide measurable results.
• Provide yes or no answers.

For example, do you think the following hypothesis meets the four criteria above? Let's see. Hypothesis: "The number of deformed frogs in five ponds that are polluted with chemical X is higher than the number of deformed frogs in five ponds without chemical X." Of course, next you will have to test your hypothesis.

Test Your Hypothesis

To test the hypothesis, an experiment will be done. You would count the healthy and deformed frogs and measure the amount of chemical X in all of the ponds. The hypothesis will be either true or false. Doing an experiment will test most hypotheses. The experiment may generate evidence in support of the hypothesis. The experiment may also generate evidence proving the hypothesis false. Once you collect your data, it will need to be analyzed.

Analyze Data and Draw a Conclusion

If a hypothesis and experiment are well designed, the experiment will produce results that you can measure, collect, and analyze. The analysis should tell you if the hypothesis is true or false. Refer to the table for the experimental results (Table below).

Your results show that pesticide levels in the two sets of ponds are different, but the average number of deformed frogs is almost the same. Your results demonstrate that your hypothesis is false. The situation may be more complicated than you thought. This gives you new information that will help you decide what to do next. Even if the results supported your hypothesis, you would probably ask a new question to try to better understand what is happening to the frogs and why.

Drawing Conclusions and Communicating Results

If a hypothesis and experiment are well designed, the results will indicate whether your hypothesis is true or false. If a hypothesis is true, scientists will often continue testing the hypothesis in new ways to learn more. If a hypothesis is false, the results may be used to come up with and test a new hypothesis. A scientist will then communicate the results to the scientific community. This will allow others to review the information and extend the studies. The scientific community can also use the information for related studies. Scientists communicate their results in a number of ways. For example, they may talk to small groups of scientists and give talks at large scientific meetings. They will also write articles for scientific journals. Their findings may also be communicated to journalists.

If you conclude that frogs are deformed due to a pesticide not previously measured, you would publish an article and give talks about your research. Your conclusion could eventually help find solutions to this problem.

Discovering the Scientific Method

A summary video of the scientific method, using the identification of DNA structure as an example, is shown in this video by MIT students: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eDNgeEUtMg .

Further Reading

• To study new problems, scientists use the scientific method; this includes making observations, forming a hypothesis , designing an experiment , and drawing conclusions.

Explore More

Use the resource below to answer the questions that follow.

• Control Variables at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjCvIbYoi-w (7:05)

• What is the difference between a dependent and an independent variable?
• How many dependent variables do you want in an experiment ?
• What are control variables?
• Why are control variables important?
• What steps are usually included in the scientific method?
• What are the features of a good hypothesis ?
• Why is it important for a scientist to communicate the results and conclusions of a study?

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Biology library

Course: biology library   >   unit 1, the scientific method.

• Controlled experiments
• The scientific method and experimental design

Introduction

• Make an observation.
• Ask a question.
• Form a hypothesis , or testable explanation.
• Make a prediction based on the hypothesis.
• Test the prediction.
• Iterate: use the results to make new hypotheses or predictions.

Scientific method example: Failure to toast

1. make an observation..

• Observation: the toaster won't toast.

2. Ask a question.

• Question: Why won't my toaster toast?

3. Propose a hypothesis.

• Hypothesis: Maybe the outlet is broken.

4. Make predictions.

• Prediction: If I plug the toaster into a different outlet, then it will toast the bread.

5. Test the predictions.

• Test of prediction: Plug the toaster into a different outlet and try again.
• If the toaster does toast, then the hypothesis is supported—likely correct.
• If the toaster doesn't toast, then the hypothesis is not supported—likely wrong.

Logical possibility

Practical possibility, building a body of evidence, 6. iterate..

• Iteration time!
• If the hypothesis was supported, we might do additional tests to confirm it, or revise it to be more specific. For instance, we might investigate why the outlet is broken.
• If the hypothesis was not supported, we would come up with a new hypothesis. For instance, the next hypothesis might be that there's a broken wire in the toaster.

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Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, what is a hypothesis and how do i write one.

General Education

Think about something strange and unexplainable in your life. Maybe you get a headache right before it rains, or maybe you think your favorite sports team wins when you wear a certain color. If you wanted to see whether these are just coincidences or scientific fact, you would form a hypothesis, then create an experiment to see whether that hypothesis is true or not.

But what is a hypothesis, anyway? If you’re not sure about what a hypothesis is--or how to test for one!--you’re in the right place. This article will teach you everything you need to know about hypotheses, including: 

• Defining the term “hypothesis” 
• Providing hypothesis examples 
• Giving you tips for how to write your own hypothesis

So let’s get started!

What Is a Hypothesis?

Merriam Webster defines a hypothesis as “an assumption or concession made for the sake of argument.” In other words, a hypothesis is an educated guess . Scientists make a reasonable assumption--or a hypothesis--then design an experiment to test whether it’s true or not. Keep in mind that in science, a hypothesis should be testable. You have to be able to design an experiment that tests your hypothesis in order for it to be valid. 

As you could assume from that statement, it’s easy to make a bad hypothesis. But when you’re holding an experiment, it’s even more important that your guesses be good...after all, you’re spending time (and maybe money!) to figure out more about your observation. That’s why we refer to a hypothesis as an educated guess--good hypotheses are based on existing data and research to make them as sound as possible.

Hypotheses are one part of what’s called the scientific method .  Every (good) experiment or study is based in the scientific method. The scientific method gives order and structure to experiments and ensures that interference from scientists or outside influences does not skew the results. It’s important that you understand the concepts of the scientific method before holding your own experiment. Though it may vary among scientists, the scientific method is generally made up of six steps (in order):

• Observation
• Asking questions
• Forming a hypothesis
• Analyze the data
• Communicate your results

You’ll notice that the hypothesis comes pretty early on when conducting an experiment. That’s because experiments work best when they’re trying to answer one specific question. And you can’t conduct an experiment until you know what you’re trying to prove!

Independent and Dependent Variables 

After doing your research, you’re ready for another important step in forming your hypothesis: identifying variables. Variables are basically any factor that could influence the outcome of your experiment . Variables have to be measurable and related to the topic being studied.

There are two types of variables:  independent variables and dependent variables. I ndependent variables remain constant . For example, age is an independent variable; it will stay the same, and researchers can look at different ages to see if it has an effect on the dependent variable. 

Speaking of dependent variables... dependent variables are subject to the influence of the independent variable , meaning that they are not constant. Let’s say you want to test whether a person’s age affects how much sleep they need. In that case, the independent variable is age (like we mentioned above), and the dependent variable is how much sleep a person gets. 

Variables will be crucial in writing your hypothesis. You need to be able to identify which variable is which, as both the independent and dependent variables will be written into your hypothesis. For instance, in a study about exercise, the independent variable might be the speed at which the respondents walk for thirty minutes, and the dependent variable would be their heart rate. In your study and in your hypothesis, you’re trying to understand the relationship between the two variables.

Elements of a Good Hypothesis

The best hypotheses start by asking the right questions . For instance, if you’ve observed that the grass is greener when it rains twice a week, you could ask what kind of grass it is, what elevation it’s at, and if the grass across the street responds to rain in the same way. Any of these questions could become the backbone of experiments to test why the grass gets greener when it rains fairly frequently.

As you’re asking more questions about your first observation, make sure you’re also making more observations . If it doesn’t rain for two weeks and the grass still looks green, that’s an important observation that could influence your hypothesis. You'll continue observing all throughout your experiment, but until the hypothesis is finalized, every observation should be noted.

Finally, you should consult secondary research before writing your hypothesis . Secondary research is comprised of results found and published by other people. You can usually find this information online or at your library. Additionally, m ake sure the research you find is credible and related to your topic. If you’re studying the correlation between rain and grass growth, it would help you to research rain patterns over the past twenty years for your county, published by a local agricultural association. You should also research the types of grass common in your area, the type of grass in your lawn, and whether anyone else has conducted experiments about your hypothesis. Also be sure you’re checking the quality of your research . Research done by a middle school student about what minerals can be found in rainwater would be less useful than an article published by a local university.

Writing Your Hypothesis

Once you’ve considered all of the factors above, you’re ready to start writing your hypothesis. Hypotheses usually take a certain form when they’re written out in a research report.

When you boil down your hypothesis statement, you are writing down your best guess and not the question at hand . This means that your statement should be written as if it is fact already, even though you are simply testing it.

The reason for this is that, after you have completed your study, you'll either accept or reject your if-then or your null hypothesis. All hypothesis testing examples should be measurable and able to be confirmed or denied. You cannot confirm a question, only a statement! 

In fact, you come up with hypothesis examples all the time! For instance, when you guess on the outcome of a basketball game, you don’t say, “Will the Miami Heat beat the Boston Celtics?” but instead, “I think the Miami Heat will beat the Boston Celtics.” You state it as if it is already true, even if it turns out you’re wrong. You do the same thing when writing your hypothesis.

Additionally, keep in mind that hypotheses can range from very specific to very broad.  These hypotheses can be specific, but if your hypothesis testing examples involve a broad range of causes and effects, your hypothesis can also be broad.  

The Two Types of Hypotheses

Now that you understand what goes into a hypothesis, it’s time to look more closely at the two most common types of hypothesis: the if-then hypothesis and the null hypothesis.

#1: If-Then Hypotheses

First of all, if-then hypotheses typically follow this formula:

If ____ happens, then ____ will happen.

The goal of this type of hypothesis is to test the causal relationship between the independent and dependent variable. It’s fairly simple, and each hypothesis can vary in how detailed it can be. We create if-then hypotheses all the time with our daily predictions. Here are some examples of hypotheses that use an if-then structure from daily life: 

• If I get enough sleep, I’ll be able to get more work done tomorrow.
• If the bus is on time, I can make it to my friend’s birthday party. 
• If I study every night this week, I’ll get a better grade on my exam. 

In each of these situations, you’re making a guess on how an independent variable (sleep, time, or studying) will affect a dependent variable (the amount of work you can do, making it to a party on time, or getting better grades). 

You may still be asking, “What is an example of a hypothesis used in scientific research?” Take one of the hypothesis examples from a real-world study on whether using technology before bed affects children’s sleep patterns. The hypothesis read s:

“We hypothesized that increased hours of tablet- and phone-based screen time at bedtime would be inversely correlated with sleep quality and child attention.”

It might not look like it, but this is an if-then statement. The researchers basically said, “If children have more screen usage at bedtime, then their quality of sleep and attention will be worse.” The sleep quality and attention are the dependent variables and the screen usage is the independent variable. (Usually, the independent variable comes after the “if” and the dependent variable comes after the “then,” as it is the independent variable that affects the dependent variable.) This is an excellent example of how flexible hypothesis statements can be, as long as the general idea of “if-then” and the independent and dependent variables are present.

#2: Null Hypotheses

Your if-then hypothesis is not the only one needed to complete a successful experiment, however. You also need a null hypothesis to test it against. In its most basic form, the null hypothesis is the opposite of your if-then hypothesis . When you write your null hypothesis, you are writing a hypothesis that suggests that your guess is not true, and that the independent and dependent variables have no relationship .

One null hypothesis for the cell phone and sleep study from the last section might say: 

“If children have more screen usage at bedtime, their quality of sleep and attention will not be worse.” 

In this case, this is a null hypothesis because it’s asking the opposite of the original thesis! 

Conversely, if your if-then hypothesis suggests that your two variables have no relationship, then your null hypothesis would suggest that there is one. So, pretend that there is a study that is asking the question, “Does the amount of followers on Instagram influence how long people spend on the app?” The independent variable is the amount of followers, and the dependent variable is the time spent. But if you, as the researcher, don’t think there is a relationship between the number of followers and time spent, you might write an if-then hypothesis that reads:

“If people have many followers on Instagram, they will not spend more time on the app than people who have less.”

In this case, the if-then suggests there isn’t a relationship between the variables. In that case, one of the null hypothesis examples might say:

“If people have many followers on Instagram, they will spend more time on the app than people who have less.”

You then test both the if-then and the null hypothesis to gauge if there is a relationship between the variables, and if so, how much of a relationship. 

4 Tips to Write the Best Hypothesis

If you’re going to take the time to hold an experiment, whether in school or by yourself, you’re also going to want to take the time to make sure your hypothesis is a good one. The best hypotheses have four major elements in common: plausibility, defined concepts, observability, and general explanation.

#1: Plausibility

At first glance, this quality of a hypothesis might seem obvious. When your hypothesis is plausible, that means it’s possible given what we know about science and general common sense. However, improbable hypotheses are more common than you might think. 

Imagine you’re studying weight gain and television watching habits. If you hypothesize that people who watch more than  twenty hours of television a week will gain two hundred pounds or more over the course of a year, this might be improbable (though it’s potentially possible). Consequently, c ommon sense can tell us the results of the study before the study even begins.

Improbable hypotheses generally go against  science, as well. Take this hypothesis example: 

“If a person smokes one cigarette a day, then they will have lungs just as healthy as the average person’s.” 

This hypothesis is obviously untrue, as studies have shown again and again that cigarettes negatively affect lung health. You must be careful that your hypotheses do not reflect your own personal opinion more than they do scientifically-supported findings. This plausibility points to the necessity of research before the hypothesis is written to make sure that your hypothesis has not already been disproven.

#2: Defined Concepts

The more advanced you are in your studies, the more likely that the terms you’re using in your hypothesis are specific to a limited set of knowledge. One of the hypothesis testing examples might include the readability of printed text in newspapers, where you might use words like “kerning” and “x-height.” Unless your readers have a background in graphic design, it’s likely that they won’t know what you mean by these terms. Thus, it’s important to either write what they mean in the hypothesis itself or in the report before the hypothesis.

Here’s what we mean. Which of the following sentences makes more sense to the common person?

If the kerning is greater than average, more words will be read per minute.

If the space between letters is greater than average, more words will be read per minute.

For people reading your report that are not experts in typography, simply adding a few more words will be helpful in clarifying exactly what the experiment is all about. It’s always a good idea to make your research and findings as accessible as possible. 

Good hypotheses ensure that you can observe the results. 

#3: Observability

In order to measure the truth or falsity of your hypothesis, you must be able to see your variables and the way they interact. For instance, if your hypothesis is that the flight patterns of satellites affect the strength of certain television signals, yet you don’t have a telescope to view the satellites or a television to monitor the signal strength, you cannot properly observe your hypothesis and thus cannot continue your study.

Some variables may seem easy to observe, but if you do not have a system of measurement in place, you cannot observe your hypothesis properly. Here’s an example: if you’re experimenting on the effect of healthy food on overall happiness, but you don’t have a way to monitor and measure what “overall happiness” means, your results will not reflect the truth. Monitoring how often someone smiles for a whole day is not reasonably observable, but having the participants state how happy they feel on a scale of one to ten is more observable. 

In writing your hypothesis, always keep in mind how you'll execute the experiment.

#4: Generalizability 

Perhaps you’d like to study what color your best friend wears the most often by observing and documenting the colors she wears each day of the week. This might be fun information for her and you to know, but beyond you two, there aren’t many people who could benefit from this experiment. When you start an experiment, you should note how generalizable your findings may be if they are confirmed. Generalizability is basically how common a particular phenomenon is to other people’s everyday life.

Let’s say you’re asking a question about the health benefits of eating an apple for one day only, you need to realize that the experiment may be too specific to be helpful. It does not help to explain a phenomenon that many people experience. If you find yourself with too specific of a hypothesis, go back to asking the big question: what is it that you want to know, and what do you think will happen between your two variables?

Hypothesis Testing Examples

We know it can be hard to write a good hypothesis unless you’ve seen some good hypothesis examples. We’ve included four hypothesis examples based on some made-up experiments. Use these as templates or launch pads for coming up with your own hypotheses.

Experiment #1: Students Studying Outside (Writing a Hypothesis)

You are a student at PrepScholar University. When you walk around campus, you notice that, when the temperature is above 60 degrees, more students study in the quad. You want to know when your fellow students are more likely to study outside. With this information, how do you make the best hypothesis possible?

You must remember to make additional observations and do secondary research before writing your hypothesis. In doing so, you notice that no one studies outside when it’s 75 degrees and raining, so this should be included in your experiment. Also, studies done on the topic beforehand suggested that students are more likely to study in temperatures less than 85 degrees. With this in mind, you feel confident that you can identify your variables and write your hypotheses:

If-then: “If the temperature in Fahrenheit is less than 60 degrees, significantly fewer students will study outside.”

Null: “If the temperature in Fahrenheit is less than 60 degrees, the same number of students will study outside as when it is more than 60 degrees.”

These hypotheses are plausible, as the temperatures are reasonably within the bounds of what is possible. The number of people in the quad is also easily observable. It is also not a phenomenon specific to only one person or at one time, but instead can explain a phenomenon for a broader group of people.

To complete this experiment, you pick the month of October to observe the quad. Every day (except on the days where it’s raining)from 3 to 4 PM, when most classes have released for the day, you observe how many people are on the quad. You measure how many people come  and how many leave. You also write down the temperature on the hour. 

After writing down all of your observations and putting them on a graph, you find that the most students study on the quad when it is 70 degrees outside, and that the number of students drops a lot once the temperature reaches 60 degrees or below. In this case, your research report would state that you accept or “failed to reject” your first hypothesis with your findings.

Experiment #2: The Cupcake Store (Forming a Simple Experiment)

Let’s say that you work at a bakery. You specialize in cupcakes, and you make only two colors of frosting: yellow and purple. You want to know what kind of customers are more likely to buy what kind of cupcake, so you set up an experiment. Your independent variable is the customer’s gender, and the dependent variable is the color of the frosting. What is an example of a hypothesis that might answer the question of this study?

Here’s what your hypotheses might look like: 

If-then: “If customers’ gender is female, then they will buy more yellow cupcakes than purple cupcakes.”

Null: “If customers’ gender is female, then they will be just as likely to buy purple cupcakes as yellow cupcakes.”

This is a pretty simple experiment! It passes the test of plausibility (there could easily be a difference), defined concepts (there’s nothing complicated about cupcakes!), observability (both color and gender can be easily observed), and general explanation ( this would potentially help you make better business decisions ).

Experiment #3: Backyard Bird Feeders (Integrating Multiple Variables and Rejecting the If-Then Hypothesis)

While watching your backyard bird feeder, you realized that different birds come on the days when you change the types of seeds. You decide that you want to see more cardinals in your backyard, so you decide to see what type of food they like the best and set up an experiment. 

However, one morning, you notice that, while some cardinals are present, blue jays are eating out of your backyard feeder filled with millet. You decide that, of all of the other birds, you would like to see the blue jays the least. This means you'll have more than one variable in your hypothesis. Your new hypotheses might look like this: 

If-then: “If sunflower seeds are placed in the bird feeders, then more cardinals will come than blue jays. If millet is placed in the bird feeders, then more blue jays will come than cardinals.”

Null: “If either sunflower seeds or millet are placed in the bird, equal numbers of cardinals and blue jays will come.”

Through simple observation, you actually find that cardinals come as often as blue jays when sunflower seeds or millet is in the bird feeder. In this case, you would reject your “if-then” hypothesis and “fail to reject” your null hypothesis . You cannot accept your first hypothesis, because it’s clearly not true. Instead you found that there was actually no relation between your different variables. Consequently, you would need to run more experiments with different variables to see if the new variables impact the results.

Experiment #4: In-Class Survey (Including an Alternative Hypothesis)

You’re about to give a speech in one of your classes about the importance of paying attention. You want to take this opportunity to test a hypothesis you’ve had for a while: 

If-then: If students sit in the first two rows of the classroom, then they will listen better than students who do not.

Null: If students sit in the first two rows of the classroom, then they will not listen better or worse than students who do not.

You give your speech and then ask your teacher if you can hand out a short survey to the class. On the survey, you’ve included questions about some of the topics you talked about. When you get back the results, you’re surprised to see that not only do the students in the first two rows not pay better attention, but they also scored worse than students in other parts of the classroom! Here, both your if-then and your null hypotheses are not representative of your findings. What do you do?

This is when you reject both your if-then and null hypotheses and instead create an alternative hypothesis . This type of hypothesis is used in the rare circumstance that neither of your hypotheses is able to capture your findings . Now you can use what you’ve learned to draft new hypotheses and test again! 

Key Takeaways: Hypothesis Writing

The more comfortable you become with writing hypotheses, the better they will become. The structure of hypotheses is flexible and may need to be changed depending on what topic you are studying. The most important thing to remember is the purpose of your hypothesis and the difference between the if-then and the null . From there, in forming your hypothesis, you should constantly be asking questions, making observations, doing secondary research, and considering your variables. After you have written your hypothesis, be sure to edit it so that it is plausible, clearly defined, observable, and helpful in explaining a general phenomenon.

Writing a hypothesis is something that everyone, from elementary school children competing in a science fair to professional scientists in a lab, needs to know how to do. Hypotheses are vital in experiments and in properly executing the scientific method . When done correctly, hypotheses will set up your studies for success and help you to understand the world a little better, one experiment at a time.

What’s Next?

If you’re studying for the science portion of the ACT, there’s definitely a lot you need to know. We’ve got the tools to help, though! Start by checking out our ultimate study guide for the ACT Science subject test. Once you read through that, be sure to download our recommended ACT Science practice tests , since they’re one of the most foolproof ways to improve your score. (And don’t forget to check out our expert guide book , too.)

If you love science and want to major in a scientific field, you should start preparing in high school . Here are the science classes you should take to set yourself up for success.

If you’re trying to think of science experiments you can do for class (or for a science fair!), here’s a list of 37 awesome science experiments you can do at home

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.

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VFMS 8th Grade Science Research Experience: Step 6: Form a Hypothesis

• Step 1: Find a Project Idea
• Step 2: Formulate a Research Question & do a Project Proposal
• Step 3: State the Purpose
• Step 4: Background Research
• Free Web Search
• Step 5: Bibliography

Step 6: Form a Hypothesis

• Step 7: Identify the Variables and Controls in your Experiment
• Step 8: Materials
• Step 9: Design & Write the Procedure
• Step 10: Perform the Experiment
• Step 11: Record your Data and Results
• Step 12: Analyze your Data & Results
• Step 13: Make a Conclusion
• Step 14: Write the Abstract
• Step 15: Acknowledgments
• Step 16: Proofread!
• Step 17: Write and prepare final copies of all items
• Step 18: Create your Display Board
• Step 19: The VFMS Science Research Expo
• Oral Presentation
• Lab Journal/Notebook
• Schedule and Due Dates

Read: How to form a Hypothesis

A hypothesis is a statement that predicts the outcome of your experiment, based on what you already know, and proposes an explanation that can be tested. What do you think the answer to your research question will be? Remember, hypothesis don’t need to be correct – they just need to be informed guesses! Do not go back and change your hypothesis once your experiment is complete. You should learn something whether your hypothesis is proven or disproven! If you have researched the topic of your project, then your research should help you make a good hypothesis. Hypotheses are often written using an “If…, then…, because…” format

Complete the Variables & Hypothesis Worksheet .  

Write a hypothesis statement using the “If…, then…, because…” format.  A final draft of the hypothesis must be included on your display board.

• Variables and Hypothesis Worksheet
• How to Form a Hypothesis
• << Previous: Step 5: Bibliography
• Next: Step 7: Identify the Variables and Controls in your Experiment >>
• Last Updated: Oct 22, 2019 3:05 PM
• URL: https://tesd.libguides.com/c.php?g=572816

Student Page

Essential Questions:

What ingredients make up a testable hypothesis?

What is the difference between a prediction and a hypothesis?

When you perform a controlled experiment for a science fair project what does it mean?

This activity was designed to help you in mastering the concepts of forming a hypothesis, identifying controlled variables (dependant variable), and identifying the variable being tested in an experiment (independent variable).  When completing this activity you will encounter many scenarios that can lead to a controlled experiment.  Read these scenarios, create a hypothesis (using cause and effect), identify the controlled variables, and identify the variable being tested.

You and your classmates will be divided into three groups; Group A, Group B, and Group C.  Each of you will get a worksheet with your group letter on it.  To get to your groups page click on the link below.

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The Algebra Problem: How Middle School Math Became a National Flashpoint

Top students can benefit greatly by being offered the subject early. But many districts offer few Black and Latino eighth graders a chance to study it.

By Troy Closson

From suburbs in the Northeast to major cities on the West Coast, a surprising subject is prompting ballot measures, lawsuits and bitter fights among parents: algebra.

Students have been required for decades to learn to solve for the variable x, and to find the slope of a line. Most complete the course in their first year of high school. But top-achievers are sometimes allowed to enroll earlier, typically in eighth grade.

The dual pathways inspire some of the most fiery debates over equity and academic opportunity in American education.

Do bias and inequality keep Black and Latino children off the fast track? Should middle schools eliminate algebra to level the playing field? What if standout pupils lose the chance to challenge themselves?

The questions are so fraught because algebra functions as a crucial crossroads in the education system. Students who fail it are far less likely to graduate. Those who take it early can take calculus by 12th grade, giving them a potential edge when applying to elite universities and lifting them toward society’s most high-status and lucrative professions.

But racial and economic gaps in math achievement are wide in the United States, and grew wider during the pandemic. In some states, nearly four in five poor children do not meet math standards.

To close those gaps, New York City’s previous mayor, Bill de Blasio, adopted a goal embraced by many districts elsewhere. Every middle school would offer algebra, and principals could opt to enroll all of their eighth graders in the class. San Francisco took an opposite approach: If some children could not reach algebra by middle school, no one would be allowed to take it.

The central mission in both cities was to help disadvantaged students. But solving the algebra dilemma can be more complex than solving the quadratic formula.

New York’s dream of “algebra for all” was never fully realized, and Mayor Eric Adams’s administration changed the goal to improving outcomes for ninth graders taking algebra. In San Francisco, dismantling middle-school algebra did little to end racial inequities among students in advanced math classes. After a huge public outcry, the district decided to reverse course.

“You wouldn’t think that there could be a more boring topic in the world,” said Thurston Domina, a professor at the University of North Carolina. “And yet, it’s this place of incredibly high passions.”

“Things run hot,” he said.

In some cities, disputes over algebra have been so intense that parents have sued school districts, protested outside mayors’ offices and campaigned for the ouster of school board members.

Teaching math in middle school is a challenge for educators in part because that is when the material becomes more complex, with students moving from multiplication tables to equations and abstract concepts. Students who have not mastered the basic skills can quickly become lost, and it can be difficult for them to catch up.

Many school districts have traditionally responded to divergent achievement levels by simply separating children into distinct pathways, placing some in general math classes while offering others algebra as an accelerated option. Such sorting, known as tracking, appeals to parents who want their children to reach advanced math as quickly as possible.

But tracking has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on inequality. Around a quarter of all students in the United States take algebra in middle school. But only about 12 percent of Black and Latino eighth graders do, compared with roughly 24 percent of white pupils, a federal report found .

“That’s why middle school math is this flashpoint,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at Boston University. “It’s the first moment where you potentially make it very obvious and explicit that there are knowledge gaps opening up.”

In the decades-long war over math, San Francisco has emerged as a prominent battleground.

California once required that all eighth graders take algebra. But lower-performing middle school students often struggle when forced to enroll in the class, research shows. San Francisco later stopped offering the class in eighth grade. But the ban did little to close achievement gaps in more advanced math classes, recent research has found.

As the pendulum swung, the only constant was anger. Leading Bay Area academics disparaged one another’s research . A group of parents even sued the district last spring. “Denying students the opportunity to skip ahead in math when their intellectual ability clearly allows for it greatly harms their potential for future achievement,” their lawsuit said.

The city is now back to where it began: Middle school algebra — for some, not necessarily for all — will return in August. The experience underscored how every approach carries risks.

“Schools really don’t know what to do,” said Jon R. Star, an educational psychologist at Harvard who has studied algebra education. “And it’s just leading to a lot of tension.”

In Cambridge, Mass., the school district phased out middle school algebra before the pandemic. But some argued that the move had backfired: Families who could afford to simply paid for their children to take accelerated math outside of school.

“It’s the worst of all possible worlds for equity,” Jacob Barandes, a Cambridge parent, said at a school board meeting.

Elsewhere, many students lack options to take the class early: One of Philadelphia’s most prestigious high schools requires students to pass algebra before enrolling, preventing many low-income children from applying because they attend middle schools that do not offer the class.

In New York, Mr. de Blasio sought to tackle the disparities when he announced a plan in 2015 to offer algebra — but not require it — in all of the city’s middle schools. More than 15,000 eighth graders did not have the class at their schools at the time.

Since then, the number of middle schools that offer algebra has risen to about 80 percent from 60 percent. But white and Asian American students still pass state algebra tests at higher rates than their peers.

The city’s current schools chancellor, David Banks, also shifted the system’s algebra focus to high schools, requiring the same ninth-grade curriculum at many schools in a move that has won both support and backlash from educators.

And some New York City families are still worried about middle school. A group of parent leaders in Manhattan recently asked the district to create more accelerated math options before high school, saying that many young students must seek out higher-level instruction outside the public school system.

In a vast district like New York — where some schools are filled with children from well-off families and others mainly educate homeless children — the challenge in math education can be that “incredible diversity,” said Pedro A. Noguera, the dean of the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education.

“You have some kids who are ready for algebra in fourth grade, and they should not be denied it,” Mr. Noguera said. “Others are still struggling with arithmetic in high school, and they need support.”

Many schools are unequipped to teach children with disparate math skills in a single classroom. Some educators lack the training they need to help students who have fallen behind, while also challenging those working at grade level or beyond.

Some schools have tried to find ways to tackle the issue on their own. KIPP charter schools in New York have added an additional half-hour of math time to many students’ schedules, to give children more time for practice and support so they can be ready for algebra by eighth grade.

At Middle School 50 in Brooklyn, where all eighth graders take algebra, teachers rewrote lesson plans for sixth- and seventh-grade students to lay the groundwork for the class.

The school’s principal, Ben Honoroff, said he expected that some students would have to retake the class in high school. But after starting a small algebra pilot program a few years ago, he came to believe that exposing children early could benefit everyone — as long as students came into it well prepared.

Looking around at the students who were not enrolling in the class, Mr. Honoroff said, “we asked, ‘Are there other kids that would excel in this?’”

“The answer was 100 percent, yes,” he added. “That was not something that I could live with.”

Troy Closson reports on K-12 schools in New York City for The Times. More about Troy Closson

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The Algebra Problem: How Middle School Math Became a National Flashpoint

From suburbs in the Northeast to major cities on the West Coast, a surprising subject is prompting ballot measures, lawsuits and bitter fights among parents: algebra.

Students have been required for decades to learn to solve for the variable x, and to find the slope of a line. Most complete the course in their first year of high school. But top-achievers are sometimes allowed to enroll earlier, typically in eighth grade.

The dual pathways inspire some of the most fiery debates over equity and academic opportunity in American education.

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times

Do bias and inequality keep Black and Latino children off the fast track? Should middle schools eliminate algebra to level the playing field? What if standout pupils lose the chance to challenge themselves?

The questions are so fraught because algebra functions as a crucial crossroads in the education system.

Students who fail it are far less likely to graduate. Those who take it early can take calculus by 12th grade, giving them a potential edge when applying to elite universities and lifting them toward society’s most high-status and lucrative professions.

But racial and economic gaps in math achievement are wide in the United States, and grew wider during the pandemic. In some states, nearly 4 in 5 poor children do not meet math standards.

To close those gaps, New York City’s previous mayor, Bill de Blasio, adopted a goal embraced by many districts elsewhere. Every middle school would offer algebra, and principals could opt to enroll all of their eighth graders in the class.

San Francisco took an opposite approach: If some children could not reach algebra by middle school, no one would be allowed to take it.

The central mission in both cities was to help disadvantaged students. But solving the algebra dilemma can be more complex than solving the quadratic formula.

New York’s dream of “algebra for all” was never fully realized, and Mayor Eric Adams’ administration changed the goal to improving outcomes for ninth graders taking algebra. In San Francisco, dismantling middle-school algebra did little to end racial inequities among students in advanced math classes. After a huge public outcry, the district decided to reverse course.

“You wouldn’t think that there could be a more boring topic in the world,” said Thurston Domina, a professor at the University of North Carolina. “And yet, it’s this place of incredibly high passions.”

“Things run hot,” he said.

In some cities, disputes over algebra have been so intense that parents have sued school districts, protested outside mayors’ offices and campaigned for the ouster of school board members.

Teaching math in middle school is a challenge for educators in part because that is when the material becomes more complex, with students moving from multiplication tables to equations and abstract concepts. Students who have not mastered the basic skills can quickly become lost, and it can be difficult for them to catch up.

Many school districts have traditionally responded to divergent achievement levels by simply separating children into distinct pathways, placing some in general math classes while offering others algebra as an accelerated option. Such sorting, known as tracking, appeals to parents who want their children to reach advanced math as quickly as possible.

But tracking has cast an uncomfortable spotlight on inequality. Around a quarter of all students in the United States take algebra in middle school. But only about 12% of Black and Latino eighth graders do, compared with roughly 24% of white pupils, a federal report found.

“That’s why middle school math is this flashpoint,” said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of education and economics at Boston University. “It’s the first moment where you potentially make it very obvious and explicit that there are knowledge gaps opening up.”

In the decades-long war over math, San Francisco has emerged as a prominent battleground.

California once required that all eighth graders take algebra. But lower-performing middle school students often struggle when forced to enroll in the class, research shows. San Francisco later stopped offering the class in eighth grade. But the ban did little to close achievement gaps in more advanced math classes, recent research has found.

As the pendulum swung, the only constant was anger. Leading Bay Area academics disparaged one another’s research. A group of parents even sued the district last spring. “Denying students the opportunity to skip ahead in math when their intellectual ability clearly allows for it greatly harms their potential for future achievement,” their lawsuit said.

The city is now back to where it began: Middle school algebra — for some, not necessarily for all — will return in August. The experience underscored how every approach carries risks.

“Schools really don’t know what to do,” said Jon R. Star, an educational psychologist at Harvard who has studied algebra education. “And it’s just leading to a lot of tension.”

In Cambridge, Massachusetts, the school district phased out middle school algebra before the pandemic. But some argued that the move had backfired: Families who could afford to simply paid for their children to take accelerated math outside school.

“It’s the worst of all possible worlds for equity,” Jacob Barandes, a Cambridge parent, said at a school board meeting.

Elsewhere, many students lack options to take the class early: One of Philadelphia’s most prestigious high schools requires students to pass algebra before enrolling, preventing many low-income children from applying because they attend middle schools that do not offer the class.

In New York, de Blasio sought to tackle the disparities when he announced a plan in 2015 to offer algebra — but not require it — in all of the city’s middle schools. More than 15,000 eighth graders did not have the class at their schools at the time.

Since then, the number of middle schools that offer algebra has risen to about 80% from 60%. But white and Asian American students still pass state algebra tests at higher rates than their peers.

The city’s schools chancellor, David Banks, also shifted the system’s algebra focus to high schools, requiring the same ninth-grade curriculum at many schools in a move that has won support and backlash from educators.

And some New York City families are still worried about middle school. A group of parent leaders in Manhattan recently asked the district to create more accelerated math options before high school, saying that many young students must seek out higher-level instruction outside the public school system.

In a vast district like New York — where some schools are filled with children from well-off families and others mainly educate homeless children — the challenge in math education can be that “incredible diversity,” said Pedro A. Noguera, the dean of the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education.

“You have some kids who are ready for algebra in fourth grade, and they should not be denied it,” Noguera said. “Others are still struggling with arithmetic in high school, and they need support.”

Many schools are unequipped to teach children with disparate math skills in a single classroom. Some educators lack the training they need to help students who have fallen behind, while also challenging those working at grade level or beyond.

Some schools have tried to find ways to tackle the issue on their own. KIPP charter schools in New York have added an additional half-hour of math time to many students’ schedules, to give children more time for practice and support so they can be ready for algebra by eighth grade.

At Middle School 50 in Brooklyn, where all eighth graders take algebra, teachers rewrote lesson plans for sixth- and seventh-grade students to lay the groundwork for the class.

The school’s principal, Ben Honoroff, said he expected that some students would have to retake the class in high school. But after starting a small algebra pilot program a few years ago, he came to believe that exposing children early could benefit everyone — as long as students came into it well prepared.

Looking around at the students who were not enrolling in the class, Honoroff said, “we asked, ‘Are there other kids that would excel in this?’”

“The answer was 100%, yes,” he added. “That was not something that I could live with.”

c.2024 The New York Times Company

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The tension was sparked by a Russian launch carried out May 17. Russia’s Ministry of Defense and state space agency Roscosmos posted statements last week confirming that Russia’s air and space forces had carried out a launch of what it described as a Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle from Russia’s Plesetsk cosmodrome in the far north of the country.

Experts said the competing claims were inconclusive. Some said they would not describe the Russian launch as a weapon.

Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said the satellite “appears to be one of a series of Russian inspector satellites that ‘shadow’ U.S. spy sats at a generous distance of 50 km or more.”

“I do not believe that it is a weapon,” McDowell added. “I do not think it is a real threat to U.S. satellites.”

Russia launched a similar system several years ago in an apparent test, said Todd Harrison, a senior fellow with the American Enterprise Institute. “That system deployed a sub-satellite and then appeared to fire a projectile,” said Harrison. “It also appears that it can do close inspection and surveillance of satellites.”

Both sides were ambiguous in their descriptions of last week’s launch and its impact, said Bleddyn Bowen, an associate professor of international relations at the University of Leicester who has written books on space warfare and astropolitics.

“All we know is that [the satellite] it’s been put into a certain orbital flight path,” which presumably clashes with the United States’ interests, Bowen said. This could present a risk of “collision,” but “I wouldn’t rush to call it an antisatellite weapon yet,” he added.

However, the dispute shows the growing debate about warfare in space. Bowen said that with powers such as China, India, Russia and the United States active in space, “the risk of space warfare happening is very real.”

Russia and the United States have proposed rival resolutions to the U.N. Security Council in recent weeks, though neither passed. Russia vetoed a U.S.-led resolution last month that Washington said was designed to prevent a nuclear arms race in space.

The Security Council on Monday did not pass a Russia-backed proposal, co-sponsored by China, that aimed to prevent “for all time” the use of any weapons in space. Ahead of the vote, U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood accused Russia of “gaslighting” on the issue and stated Russia had launched likely “counterspace weapons” into low orbit in 2019, 2022 and last week.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry called the results of the vote on the draft U.N. resolution “disappointing” on Tuesday and accused the United States of militarizing space.

“The United States and its allies, despite all the steps we have taken to consider their proposals … opposed our constructive, comprehensive initiative,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said . “They have once again demonstrated their true priorities in the space area, aimed not at keeping space free of weapons of any kind, but at placing weapons in outer space and turning it into an arena for military confrontation.”

A U.S. Space Command spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday that the Russian satellite was “likely a counterspace weapon presumably capable of attacking other satellites in low Earth orbit.” The statement added that “even as Moscow backs space arms control negotiations, Russia continues to research, develop, test, and deploy a suite of counterspace systems that threaten the safety and stability of the domain.”

Clay Moltz, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School and author of books on space security and conflict, said space warfare “has already been occurring” for many years, largely in the form of jamming satellite signals. “But there have been no kinetic attacks or nuclear explosions except in national weapons testing programs,” he added.

“As space becomes more and more crowded … countries are nervous about possible attacks on their assets,” Moltz said. “Such a [space] war is certainly possible, but it would be damaging to all of humanity.”

Natalia Abbakumova contributed to this report.

Researchers keep finding microplastics everywhere: Now in human and dog testes

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Researchers have located one more anatomical organ where microplastics — of all shapes and constituents — are found: human testes.

And although they can’t say for sure, they suspect the presence of these jagged bits and strands of polymers such as polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride and polystyrene could be — in part — behind a global trend in diminishing sperm quality and quantity .

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In 2022, a team of researchers published a paper showing that global sperm counts fell about 1.2% per year between 1973 and 2018. From the year 2000, that rate accelerated to more than 2.6% per year.

“What I think will grab people’s attention with this study is the fact that plastic is in the testicles and potentially contributing to disarray in the function of the testicles,” said Leonardo Trasande, a pediatrician and public policy expert at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine and Wagner School of Public Service.

“What should have gotten people excited all along is the fact that we’ve known that the invisible chemicals — the phthalates, the bisphenols and the PFAS that are used in plastic materials — are already known to be problems,” he said. “And so if this is what it takes to get people’s attention, I’m a bit sad. Because we already had enough evidence that plastics were bad for testicular function.”

Others, including Philip Landrigan, director of the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good at Boston College, said the study was “consistent with a whole series of papers that have come out now in the last few years” showing these particles in a variety of organs, including the heart, liver, lungs and brain.

“It’s no surprise that microplastics are in the testes. The plastic is ubiquitous in today’s world, the stuff breaks down, and the smaller the particle, the more easily it can move into and throughout the human body,” he said.

Xiaozhong Yu, a professor of environmental health at the University of New Mexico — and an author on this latest research — said he’d been researching the effects of different chemicals on sperm production for years, and it was only recently that a colleague suggested he look for microplastics in testes.

“I said, ‘Are you joking?’,” he said, recalling the conversation, explaining he was pretty certain he wouldn’t find microplastics in testes because — like the brain — these sperm-generating factories are insulated by a protective barrier.

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Nevertheless, they gave it a go.

They started by trying it out in dog testes. They were able to acquire 47 from neutering clinics. (The pet owners all provided permission.)

They found microplastics in small dogs, big dogs, young dogs and old dogs. The plastic bits were in every dog testis they examined. The number ranged from 2.36 micrograms per gram to 485.77 micrograms per gram. The average was 122.63 micrograms per gram, and 12 polymers were identified. The most abundant were polyethylene — the material found in plastic packaging, films and bottles — and polyvinyl chloride — a material found in most household water pipes.

He said he immediately went back to investigate their quality control. Maybe the testes had become contaminated at some point during the procedure or testing?

He and his team were able to rule that out, although Landrigan noted that contamination was still possible — unless everything, from procurement to analysis had been done in a “clean” room devoid of all plastic.

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Yu and his team then decided to look at human samples. In the end, they were able to examine 23 testes from men ages 16 to 88. The tissue was acquired from males who had died in accidents and whose testes had been preserved post-autopsy. He said all samples were from men who had died in 2016 — made available following a seven-year storage requirement, after which time such samples are usually discarded.

Once again, they found microplastics in every sample they examined, and as with the dog testes, there was wide variation — from 161.22 micrograms per gram to 695.94 micrograms per gram, with an average of 328.44 micrograms per gram — nearly three times greater than what they found in dogs.

The microplastics in human testes were also composed of a variety of polymers, with polyethylene being the most common, followed by ABS (acrylonitrile, butadiene and styrene monomers — which is used to make a variety of products, including toys, automotive parts, medical equipment and consumer electronics), N66 (a kind of nylon), polyvinyl chloride and others.

The researchers also noted a correlation between the concentrations of PVC and polyethylene and testes weight: The higher the concentration, the lower the weight.

“Generally, a decreased testis weight is indicative of reduced spermatogenesis,” wrote the authors in the paper.

Yu said the difference in humans and dogs between polymer types — with dogs showing higher concentrations of PVC than men — likely has to do with lifestyle differences. He said consumer trends show a general aversion to eating or drinking out of bottles and foodware made from PVC, which contains bisphenol A — an additive that has been associated with health and developmental harm.

However, he began looking at dog toys, and noticed many of them are made from this kind of plastic.

“People are choosing to avoid it,” he said. But the market hasn’t budged in the same way for dogs.

Asked what the major route of exposure was for dogs and people, he said “microplastics are everywhere — in the air, in the drinking water, in the food, in our clothes. We don’t exactly know what is the most probable route. But they are everywhere.”

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He also noticed variation within the groups. Dog testes acquired from public veterinary clinics showed higher levels of microplastics than those from private clinics, “potentially reflecting the influence of socioeconomic differences on the living environments and lifestyles of dogs.”

The researchers were also not able to find a correlation between age and microplastic concentration — a finding that surprised them. (Although men over the age of 55 had the least amount).

“The absence of a distinct age-dependent accumulation of microplastics in human testes may be due to unique physiological and biological processes of spermatogenesis,” they wrote, noting the continual renewal and release of sperm, which could “help mitigate the buildup of microplastics over time.”

That hypothesis, they noted, was supported by the presence of microplastics in human seminal fluid.

“The reality is that the petrochemical industry has gotten a pass all these years,” said Trasande, the NYU professor. “We know that plastics come from the petrochemical industry ... and it’s no secret that we have paid as a society by letting the petrochemical industry pollute us. Now we’re paying the consequences. And if we don’t reverse course fairly quickly, we will have an even bigger problems before us because plastic consumption is growing, not slowing down.”

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Landrigan agreed and noted that nations were currently in negotiations to sign a treaty that would curb the use of plastic and cap production.

“Plastic production is increasing exponentially,” he said noting that it’s increased more than 200-fold since the 1950s. He said plastic production is on a trajectory to double by 2040 and triple by 2060. There have been a total of about 8 billion tons of plastic produced since 1950, he said, and about 6 billion tons is “floating around us, most of it in the form of microplastics.”

He said the anatomical location of this latest microplastic discovery may hit close to home for lawmakers, who until this time, have not been too concerned.

He said he’d had to testify in the Senate several years ago about endocrine disruptors, and mentioned that sperm quantity was reduced in men who’d been exposed.

“Two senators sat back and unconsciously crossed their legs,” he said. “The body language was amazing.”

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Susanne Rust is an award-winning investigative reporter specializing in environmental issues. She is based in the Bay Area.

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