Hypothesis

In making a hypothesis you need to reflect on your past experience and knowledge concerning how temperature affects bacteria growth. Have you ever seen any of the following:

• Bread mold?
• How fast a banana rots?
• Glass of milk that has been on the counter all night?
• The result of eating undercooked meat?

All of the above examples involve bacteria growth. Take the milk example for instance. Based on your past experience do you think that temperature would affect the rate of bacteria growth in milk?

An easy way to take a question and make a hypothesis is by using an "If . . . then . . ." statement. An example using our milk question is as follows:

If milk is kept at room temperature, then bacteria growth will increase.