As I introduce the scientific method one of my favorite activities is the three hole bottle activity. It is a great way for students to practice writing a hypothesis and making observations. To start you, need a 2 liter bottle with three holes drilled into it in a vertical line in the middle of the bottle. In the picture they are behind the tape. They are slightly small than the diameter of a pencil eraser. I have the students set up a chart on the right side of their interactive notebook as seen below. To begin, I take the bottle filled with water and the tape over the holes (as pictured) around the room to each student so they can record as many observations as possible . They record these observations in the first column titled  “cue column” . Next, for dramatic effect and to discuss bias I take one student volunteer to the front of the room and hold the bottle over their head (after I give them paper towel) and ask the class to make a prediction as to what will happen when the tape is pulled past the first hole. They record that in the first column. I then remove the tape from the first hole while holding the bottle above the volunteer student’s head (only a few drops usually comes out of the bottle). Students the record their observation and then make a hypothesis about what will happen when the tape is pulled past the 1 and 2 hole and then all three holes. To finish I turn the bottle on it’s side and have the students share their hypothesis with the class. Students then make a conclusion about their observations and a class discussion about what happened.  On the left side, students were given the option to draw a graphic that explains everything that happened or they can fill the page with a written description (since a picture is worth a thousand words). I offered a homework pass for the most creative left and right side notebook pages with accurate descriptions and properly writing hypotheses.