Understanding Experimentation

We had a great time learning about how scientists keep experimenting to learn more and more about something and how that can sometimes mislead us about the reliability of science and about how the scientific process works. We designed our first tests to try to figure out what was in the black box. Then, we put that knowledge to the test as we made observations about materials, predicted how their properties would change when they were mixed, then mixed them to make different formulations and determine which ones turned out best. It was a pretty messy but very fun day. Did we ever figure out how that 8 foot pole got into the lunch bag?