Getting Started

How it All Connects

A map of the many ways a science investigation can begin — and how a question, a hypothesis and an experiment fit together.

The big picture

There's no single place to begin

A good question can grow out of a tool you played with, an everyday object, another student's poster, or simply something that surprised you. You don't need a perfect, finished question before you're allowed to start — you can begin almost anywhere, and shape the question as you go. This map shows how the pieces connect, and why, once you do have a question, everything else flows from it. Tap any point on the map to open a note about it.

Investigation concept map Six equal starting points cluster at the top and feed into a question. One firm arrow leads from the question to a testable hypothesis, then to a try-it experiment step, a result, and finally telling your story. Start anywhere — any of these can begin an investigation A curious "what if?" An everyday object A hands-on tool Someone else's poster A surprising result Something you noticed Your questionclear, and something you can measure ▸ what you present first must be testable A testable hypothesisif… then… because… Try itexpect to fix and retry ↻ first tries reveal problems What happenedevery result counts ↻ often sparks a new question Tell your storywhat you learnt matters most

The soft dashed links show the many ways in — there's no single starting point. The one bold arrow is the rule that doesn't bend: a hypothesis grows from a question, and it has to be testable. And because the question frames everything downstream, it's what you lead with when you tell the story of your investigation.