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Hi there! I am Studyfin, your science tutor. Today, we will learn how to ask and refine research questions about living things!
Biodiversity is the mix of different living things in one area. To study it, scientists start with a big research question. Sometimes, that big question is too hard to answer all at once.
We can ask smaller, secondary questions to help us. The answers to these small questions guide us. They help us refine, or improve, our main research question so it is easier to solve.
Let's look at a real example. Imagine you want to know how to get more insects in a park. You ask: 'How do we get more bugs?' This is a good start, but it is very broad.
Sally wants to study biodiversity in her school garden. Her main question is: 'How can we get more animals to live in our school garden?' Walk through how Sally can refine her question using secondary questions.
- Step 1: Write down the big, starting question. Sally writes: 'How can we get more animals to live in our school garden?'
- Step 2: Ask smaller, secondary questions. Sally asks: 'What animals already live in our garden?' and 'What resources do they need?'
- Step 3: Find the answers to the secondary questions. Sally finds out that local bees live nearby, and they need pollen from wildflowers to survive.
- Step 4: Use those answers to refine the main question. Since bees need wildflowers, Sally changes her question to be specific.
- Step 5: Write the new, refined question. Sally's final question is: 'Which local wildflowers will attract more bees to our school garden?'
