<p>
	A hypothesis, or scientific claim, is simply a well reasoned guess at the answer to your research question.<span>&nbsp; </span>The words &ldquo;well reasoned&rdquo; are important here.<span>&nbsp; A well reasoned claim usually includes a &#39;because&#39; statement or takes the form of an &#39;if, then&#39; statement. </span>For students to develop a such a claim it should grow out of some kind of a model of the system or mechanism under investigation.<span>&nbsp; </span>A student ought to have some idea as to <u>why</u> the outcome predicted by the hypothesis would happen.</p>