Family and Homeschool Activities: Making and Testing Predictions

These family and homeschool activities are designed to complement the Making and Testing Predictions topic on BrainPOP Jr.

Predicting in the Kitchen

The kitchen is a perfect setting to explore science with your child. Present small amounts of baking powder, baking soda, salt, pepper, and other spices. Have your child predict what she thinks will happen when she adds baking powder to a cup of water. Encourage your child to explain why she made this prediction, such as her prior knowledge—what did she know already? Then do the experiment together. Now ask your child to predict what will happen when you add pepper to the water. How did she come up with the prediction? Ask her to think about how dissolving baking powder affected her prediction of how the pepper would behave in water?

Recipe Experimentation

Baking with your child is a great and delicious way to practice experiment design skills. Select a cookie recipe with your child and follow the directions exactly. Then choose one ingredient in the recipe and either add more of it or take it away. What does your child think will happen to the results? For example, how might adding more sugar to a recipe affect cookies? Make sure your child supports his prediction with observations and prior knowledge.