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Experiment: Thumb War Hypotheses

1. Different people have different sized thumbs and wrists. Do you think
this will affect people’s success at winning a thumb war? Write a
hypothesis to answer this question.
2. Find as many volunteers as you can. Measure everyone’s wrist and
thumb circumference by wrapping the string around it and measuring

the string used with the ruler.
3. Have each volunteer have a thumb war with each of the other
volunteers three times. Each person should keep track of his or her
victories.
4. Record all results
5. Create a graph of your results, with wrist circumference on the x-axis
and victories on the y-axis.
6. How does your data compare with your hypothesis?

Experiment: Observing the Placebo Effect

1. Prepare 12 cups with liquid – 3 should have plain water, 3 should have
water with sugar, 3 should have water with red food coloring, and 3
should have water with red food coloring and sugar.
2. Label the cups in such a way that only you will know what is in each
one.
3. Get a few volunteers. Tell them that in this experiment you will either
be giving them water or punch. (Really you are giving them sugar
water, but that’s basically all punch is.)

4. Give each person a cup, ask him or her to drink it, and then tell you,
based on taste, if they had water or punch.
5. Record your results, and compare it to reality. How many people
guessed wrong? Did these people’s drinks have anything in common?

What’s Happening: You will likely see a version of the placebo effect.
People with red drinks will likely think they are drinking punch, even if
they only have water with food coloring. People with clear drinks will
likely think they are drinking water, even if their cup has sugar in it too.

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