Scientific Method- The Grape Lab
Forming and Testing Hypotheses
NAME______
________
When forming a good Hypothesis we need to be able to make good initial observations.
These observations can be either from a reliable source or recorded first hand experience.
In this lab you will be using recorded first hand experience to try and make an educated
guess.
MATERIALS NEEDED:
Eight(8) seedless grapes
one 250 ml beaker
6-10 inch piece of paper towel
ginger ale
plastic spoon
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO EAT OR DRINK IN THE LAB, POISONOUS RESIDUES
MAY EXIST IN THE LAB AREA!!
PROCEDURE:
PART I- Making observations and forming a hypothesis
1. Have your teacher fill your beaker at least half full with ginger ale.
2. Peel the skin off of one of the grapes with your fingers
3. Place one of the grapes in the ginger ale. Observe the grape for at least two minutes
and record its behavior in the space provided. You are in the observation part of the
scientific method at this point. ( REMEMBER TO BE QUANTITATIVE)
4. After your observations have been recorded remove, remove the grape from the
ginger ale. Then, place the other grape in the ginger ale and repeat step 3.
PEELED GRAPE
UNPEELED GRAPE
observation
observation
The next step- the problem is given: What will happen to a peeled and unpeeled grape
when placed in ginger ale?
You are now going to attempt to answer this question in a hypothesis. Use the space
provided below to make an EDUCATED guess based on your observations.
REMEMBER that you need to try and explain why it will happen!
PART II
TESTING YOUR HYPOTHESIS
What you are now going to do is see if you can prove or disprove your hypothesis. It is
important to remember that you realize that just as much can be learned from disproving
your hypothesis as proving your hypothesis.
An important part of experimentation is repeating your test several times so you can show
that this behavior is consistent and not just a fluke or coincidence. This is why you are
repeating the test three times.
1. Peel the skin off of 3 grapes and leave 3 grapes with the skin on.
2. Place one of the peeled grapes in the ginger ale, observe its behavior for a couple of
minutes and record it on the space provided. Then remove the grape from the ginger
ale.
3. Repeat step 2 with each of the other grapes and record their behavior.
Unpeeled Grape
Peeled Grape
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
Now attempt to write a conclusion, tomorrow in class we will go over how to write a
proper conclusion