Locking it In Coloring Page

About this page

Chapter 3 closes with a satisfying click. Subby slides the Squad's written hypothesis into a safe and locks it tight, and the guessing phase is officially over. This playful image carries a surprisingly grown-up research habit, committing to your prediction before the test begins so you cannot quietly change it afterward. Locking it in takes a little courage, because the test might prove the guess wrong, but that is a happy outcome too, since wrong answers are the best part of science. With the guess secured, the Squad is ready to pack for the experiment ahead.

The research skill

Subby tucks a scroll marked Hypothesis into a safe, so the guess stays exactly as written. The research skill is recording a prediction before the test, with the date, somewhere it cannot be quietly edited. Memory is slippery: after seeing a result, people often believe they predicted it all along. A written record keeps the comparison honest. This closes Chapter 3 and hands off to the experiments ahead. Scientists call a formal version preregistration, and students practice it whenever a lab sheet asks for a prediction first.

Try it at home

Make your own prediction safe from a shoebox, an envelope, or a jar with a lid.

1. Pick a question you can check by evening, like "Will the mail come before lunch?"
2. Your child dictates or draws the guess, and you add today's date.
3. Seal it inside and put it somewhere high.
4. At checking time, open it together and read the guess aloud before discussing what happened.

The one rule: nobody changes the paper once it is locked.

Talk about it while you color

• Why do you think the Squad wants to lock the paper up instead of holding onto it?
• If you wrote your own guess on that paper, what would it say?
• What do you think the Squad will need to do next to test their guess?