THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS:
1. Observe something (wonder at the world!)
2. Ask a question (Why? How? When? Which?)
3. Research (what is there to know about your topic?)
4. Form a hypothesis (“I think…”)
5. Test hypothesis (do experiment) and gather data
6. Analyze data and draw conclusions
7. Share and report results
1. Observe something (wonder at the world!)
2. Ask a question (Why? How? When? Which?)
Second graders wondered some scientific wonderings:
- What was there before the Big Bang?
- Why do some fish have buggy eyes?
- How were humans invented?
- AND MORE
Some questions we would have been able to answer with simply some research. Many were metaphysical questions, and after a class discussion, second graders agreed that some would be easier to answer in a second grade classroom than others.
Second graders narrowed down and chose this question:
How long does it take food to travel through the digestive system? Which system would it travel through faster: a second grader’s or an eighth grader’s?
We were wondering what would make your feces turn colors and how long it would take for food to go through the body.--Anna
We wanted to compare the speed of a second grader and an eighth grader. --Parker
3. Research (what is there to know about your topic?)
Second grade had already completed a unit on the digestive system, and know plenty about the topic. As we designed our experiment, we realized we needed to get a few more questions answered by an expert first.
We held a conference call with Dr. Currey who answered some questions we had.
1. Is there a certain food that we will still know what it is when it comes out as feces? Beets and beet juice
2. How long is the whole digestive system? In an adult, about 30 feet. We will need to research the length of an eight-year-old.
3. Are there some things that speed up or slow down digestion? Exercise, illness, eating something bad, drinking lots of water all speed up digestion (sometimes too much!).
4. How can we keep people safe in our experiment? Inform them that we are experimenting on them (no hiding beets in their food!). Make sure they understand what we are doing. Not use names connected with results. 
4. Form a hypothesis (“I think…”)
Second graders made hypotheses about how long they thought it would take to digest food. Hypotheses ranged from 2 hours to 4.5 hours.
5. Test hypothesis (do experiment) and gather data:
Second graders then designed their experiment:
The experiment was explained in a letter, and permission to participate (consent) forms were collected. It is important for the integrity of the scientific process and the ethics of research to always fully explain an experiment and always make sure that consent is given.
To find out how long digestion takes, first we drank beet-apple juice. – Tate
We chose beet-apple juice because the color of beets dyes things red or pink. --Sarah
When we drank the beet-apple juice, some kids liked it and some kids didn't. We did a survey to see how many kids did and didn't like it. – Brenna
We wrote down the time we drank it (ingestion) and the date. --Faith
Next, we waited until our feces came out (we let our bodies digest). --Jaelyn
When we excreted the red/pink feces, we wrote down the date and time to see how long it took for the digestion to happen. --Ava
Just out of curiosity, we surveyed who liked the beet-apple juice and who didn’t.
We were wondering if the juice was good or not. --Dakota
We were wondering how many people liked the juice.--Sitara
6. Analyze data and draw conclusions
102 hours seems like too much; that's at least four days. 29 hours makes sense because a day is 24 hours and that sounds about right. --Madison
Only twelve second graders reported. Only three eighth graders reported. It will be hard to compare. --Tate and Sarah
102 is possible. If it takes that long the person is constipated. Another explanation is they did use the restroom, but it didn't turn red/pink. --Brenna
Maybe they messed up on the time or date. --Jaelyn
102 is an outlier. --Lane
We decided to round to the nearest whole hour to make it easier. The nearest half hour would have been more accurate, though. --Lennon
7. Share and report results
Thank you for viewing our project!