Snail Experiment: Hypothesis and Protocol

The hypothesis that you should be formulating should represent an experimental way to answer a question about something you observed about snail behavior from your first experiment.

1.  You can phrase your hypothesis as a question or you can make an if-then statement.  For example, "If the snail is in warm water then habituation will occur more rapidly."

2. There needs to be a dependent variable and an independent variable.  The dependent variable is part of the experiment, such as the species of snail and the sameness of the water.  The independent variable is the experimental manipulation, such as a change in the water temperature.

3. There should be a control group and an experimental group that is exposed to a defined treatment. Those snails that have learning tested in room temperature water would be a control group and those that have learning tested in warm water, a defined treatment, would be the experimental group.

The protocol should be a detailed description of all the steps you need to take to carry out the experiment.  See you roriginal snail experiment for an example.

The materials list should be an exhaustive list of all the materials that you need to carry out the experiment.