Mystery Bag

Mystery Bag Activity

When this activity began, Dr. Smirnova held up a mystery bag in front of the class. She asked us what came to mind when we saw the mystery bag.
We took turns sharing what the bag reminded us of. Next, we shared what we thought was in the bag. Then, we each passed the bag around, held it for 5 seconds, and had to guess what we thought was in it.
After holding and feeling the bag, I believed that there were several small toys in it, such as a stuffed animal and a rattle. This was my informed guess.
As a class, we categorized our guesses.
Some people thought there was a dog toy, a rattle, a baby toy, or a combination of all of these things inside of the bag. These were statements about what we thought was in the bag.
Then, we discussed how this was similar to a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a tentative explanation for the problem/question based on some type of observation. We used our senses to observe.
Next, we had to devise a method to obtain information about what is in the bag to determine if our hypothesis was correct. Each test will have two potential results: either the hypothesis is correct or it is wrong. We have to test our hypothesis more than once before determining if it is right or wrong. The more test results that match your prediction = the greater support for your hypothesis.
After this activity and instruction, we reviewed what we discussed.

Why should we use this activity?
Principle concept: Science is about exploring. Science is not concrete; it always changes. Scientific knowledge is fundamentally uncertain. Science is uncertain because it is a human activity.
It is important to teach inquiry and using inquiry to develop students' critical thinking and reasoning skills. They need to be able to find answers and justify them based on evidence.