Scientists want to know why some years there are many salmon returning to Alaska and other years there are few. There are many factors, or variables involved in the life cycle of the salmon. Any number of them could increase or decrease the number of salmon returning.
We wonder if the river is going to flood during break-up. Again there are many factors involved, yet we control none of them.
We wonder why some years there are lots of blueberries and other years there are only a few.
We want to know if, when the loon calls, there will be a strong wind
within a day.
How can we study situations like that? We cannot do an experiment.
We can only observe and think.
When we do an experiment, we control all the variables. We set up the project and greatly influence its outcome. When we do a project based on observe and think, we try to influence the outcome as little as possible. If we try to observe the nesting habits of ducks and geese by paddling up to the nest every day, we will be observing how they respond to us, not how they nest.
Breakup
Will our village flood when the river breaks up this spring? The first
step in finding out whether it will flood or not is to go to the elders
and ask them what things influence breakup the most. They will probably
identify:
While we cannot control the amount of snow, we can measure its depth.
We can weigh it or melt it to see how much water is in each foot of packed
snow.
While we cannot control the thickness of the ice, we can measure it
daily.
While we cannot control the rate the snow melts, we can record the
number of days the temperature is over 32 degrees, and the number of hours
each day the snow is melting.
Berries
We would like to predict whether or not there will be lots of berries
in a given location. There are several things that influence this.
Is there a late frost that kills the spring buds?
Is there enough rain at the right times to nourish the plants during
the summer?
Is there enough sunshine during the summer?
We do not control the sunshine, the temperature or the rainfall. We
can, however, faithfully record them. We can also record the amount of
berries in a measured location.
* Record the weather in the spring. Note any frosts after the blueberry
blossoms have started to form.
* Record the number of sunny days and rainy days on a calendar.
Note the stage of development of the berries, bloom, bud, green, turning
blue, and blue.
* Stake out an area in your favorite berry patch. Record how many berries
you get from that area.
When you compare the information from one year to the next, you should
be able to determine what makes a bumper crop of berries in one year, and
lean times the next.
Animal Behavior
Science projects that involve animal behavior often are observe and
think type projects.
Camprobber. We can do an experiment to test which food a camprobber
prefers by putting out several types of food on a piece of plywood, and
protecting it from the squirrels. However, we cannot do an experiment to
determine where the camprobber will store the food. For that we need binoculars
and lots of patience. Do an “observe and think” project similar to
this with birds or animals in your area.