Mary wants to determine if there is a relationship between room color and sleep. Based on her research, Mary makes an educated g
uess that people fall asleep more quickly in a room painted blue than in a room painted yellow. She asks several people which color they like better—yellow or blue—and uses their responses to determine if her educated guess was correct. What can you infer is missing from Mary's scientific investigation?
A testable hypothesis that is based on research
An experiment that directly tests the hypothesis
Variables to be tested by an experiment
Research on the topic to see what others have learned
Although there is quite a bit missing from Mary's scientific investigation, the thing that sticks out the most is the fact that Mary is missing an experiment. Mary's hypothesis states that people would fall asleep faster if their room color were to be painted blue. To prove that her hypothesis is true, Mary would need to conduct an experiment to see whether or not she was correct.
