Mississippi Science FSL.3C.3
The Standard
- FSL.3C
- Students will apply scientific literacy and thinking skills to analyze scientific investigations found in various experimental designs including, but not limited to, those found in sample ACT science passages.
Select and describe an alternate method for testing a hypothesis.
2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Nature of Science
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students choose a different way to test the same hypothesis. They describe the steps, what they will measure, and what they will keep the same.
What Mastery Looks Like
- To test whether one paper towel brand holds more water, a student weighs equal-size squares before and after soaking instead of measuring runoff. They keep soaking and drip times the same and use the mass gained as evidence.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may change the hypothesis instead of changing the test. They may call a repeated trial a new method, or change towel size along with the measurement.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: A class pours 50 mL of water onto equal-size paper towels and measures runoff to see which brand holds more. Describe a different test, naming what you would measure and two things you would keep the same.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs equal-size squares from two towel brands, 50 mL of water, and a scale; have them compare runoff, then mass gained after soaking.
Ask: Why might weighing soaked towels and measuring runoff give different results for the same two brands?
Give pairs claims that warm water dissolves sugar faster than cold water and salt melts ice faster than sand; have them sketch alternate tests.
Give students two brands of cafeteria napkins and a 20 mL spill; ask how else they could test which absorbs more.
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Printable FSL.3C.3 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to FSL.3C.3, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- FSL.3A.1
Ask questions and conduct research to generate a hypothesis, determine independent/dependent variables, and appropriate controls for scientific investigations a...
- FSL.3D.1
Select the hypothesis, prediction, or conclusion that is, or is not, supported by data presentation or pieces of informational text.
- FSL.3D.5
Select and explain why a hypothesis, prediction, or conclusion is, or is not, supported by two or more data presentations or theoretical models.
- FSL.3C.5
Determine which additional trials could be performed in an investigation to enhance the results of an experimental design.
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