🎓 Ages 15–18 · Grades 9–12 · Scientific Method

InquiryForge

Every study either holds up or it doesn’t — and you can reason your way to which. Here you read a real experiment, predict whether it’s sound, and see the reasoning worked out — no jargon, no lectures, nothing sent anywhere.

The Design Lab ★ the main event

Read a real study — a plant experiment, a teaching-method trial, a medicine test, a sleep-app claim — predict whether it’s controlled, whether a confound is sneaking in, or whether the result is real signal or just noise, then see the worked-out verdict and why. A pure engine checks each design, so the reasoning is exact.

Open the Design Lab →

Who you’ll meet

Not mascots — everyday researchers, each one showing a single scientific-method idea in action. You’ll run into them in the Design Lab.

  • Hattie — changes one variable at a time (a controlled experiment)
  • Cal — spots the confound — a second factor sneaking in
  • Fenn — untangles who-vs-what in human studies
  • Ravi — builds a control group to compare against
  • Corvo — catches the hidden variable in a clinical trial
  • Sana — tells real signal from random wobble
  • Opal — knows a tiny effect in big noise could be chance
  • Nia — flags the borderline result that needs more data
  • Argus — remembers correlation isn’t causation
  • Sol — the mentor — sets a question, tests it, guides reflection

Check what you know

Sixteen short kits — from variables and hypotheses to controls, confounds, sampling, and reading evidence — anchored to the science-practices standards. Hints when you want them; your progress stays on this device.

1. What Makes a Question Testable? Testable hypotheses; if-then · 25 questions 2. Variables Independent / dependent / controlled · 25 questions 3. The Controlled Experiment Change one thing, hold the rest · 25 questions 4. Confounding Variables The hidden third variable · 25 questions 5. Operationalizing & Measurement Turn a fuzzy idea into a measurable one · 25 questions 6. Sampling & Bias Representative samples; selection bias · 25 questions 7. Randomization & Fair Comparison Randomize; control groups · 25 questions 8. Correlation vs Causation A link is not a cause · 25 questions 9. Signal vs Noise Variability; is the difference real? · 25 questions 10. Reading Graphs Honestly Axes, scales, misleading charts · 25 questions 11. Replication & Reproducibility Does it hold? · 25 questions 12. Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) Support a claim with evidence · 25 questions 13. Argumentation (ADI) Construct + critique arguments · 25 questions 14. Experimental vs Observational When you can't randomize · 25 questions 15. From Result to Conclusion Over-/under-claiming; limits · 25 questions 16. Design & Defend a Study Design a full investigation + defend it · 25 questions

How it works

InquiryForge is written to trust you — it’s about the reasoning, not memorizing terms, and a wrong prediction is just a place to learn. A sound design supports a claim; it doesn’t make it "true." Your progress is saved only on this device: no accounts, nothing sent anywhere.