Hatch
Making a guess before you look, then checking what really happens
Loading audio…
Press play to listen along. The line being read lights up as you go.
Show full transcript
Loading transcript…
Hatch is a brand-new chick with a bit of eggshell still on top like a little hat. Hatch has one favorite word, and that word is "I wonder." I wonder if this leaf floats. I wonder if this rock is heavy. Before Hatch touches anything, Hatch stops and makes a guess out loud. Then — and only then — Hatch looks to find out. Guess first, look second. That is the Hatch way.
Hatch's friend Pip the beetle is holding two cups, one with a stone inside. "Which one is heavier?" asks Hatch. Pip freezes. "What if I say the wrong one?" Pip whispers. Pip does not want to guess. Guessing feels scary, like it could go wrong in front of everyone.
"Here's my secret," says Hatch, leaning in. "A guess can't be wrong — it can only be not-yet-checked. You say what you think will happen. Then you look. If you were right, hooray! If you were not, hooray — now you learned something you didn't know before!" Pip's eyes go wide. "So... either way is good?" "Either way you find something out," says Hatch.
Pip takes a breath and points. "That one. The left cup is heavier." Then Pip lifts them both. The right cup sinks down — the stone was in the right one all along! Pip gasps... and then, slowly, smiles. "I was sure it was the left. But now I know it's the right — and I know heavy things pull your hand down." Pip guessed wrong, and learned something real.
Pip wants to guess again right away. And again. Each "I wonder" makes Pip's heart beat a little quicker — not the scared kind of quick, but the excited kind, like standing at the top of a slide. Hatch bumps Pip gently, wing to shell. "That feeling? That's what finding out feels like." And the two of them sit in the grass, wondering about everything, happy and unafraid to guess.
Hear it as an audio drama
A short play starring Hatch, from SproutLab. Different voices, same idea. Listen any time after you read.
Loading audio…
Read the drama script
- Narrator: From Spark and Anvil and Sproutlab — this is Hatch, in chapter 1 of the Sproutlab cast.
- Narrator: This drama uses an AI-generated voice. Voiced via Gemini 2.5.
- Narrator: Hatch is a bright-eyed little chick who does one thing before every experiment — she GUESSES first.
- Hatch: Before I look, I make a guess. Then I check what really happens. A guess isn't cheating — it wakes up your thinking!
- Narrator: Hatch held a dry sponge over a bowl of water.
- Hatch: Predict — if I dip this sponge in, will it get heavier or lighter?
- Narrator: A young duckling guessed.
- Duckling: Heavier — it soaks up water!
- Hatch: Let's find out! Dip... lift... and — it IS heavier! You guessed, then you checked.
- Duckling: I was right!
- Hatch: And if you'd been wrong, that would be a discovery too! A wrong guess shows you a surprise worth understanding.
- Narrator: The duckling guessed before every test after that.
- Hatch: Guess first, then find out. That's how a scientist thinks. That's what makes Hatch, Hatch.
- Narrator: You've been listening to a Spark and Anvil chapter, written by the Spark and Anvil writing team for ages 9 to 14.
- Narrator: Spark and Anvil is a 501(c)(3) public charity. Apps stay free forever.
- Narrator: Curriculum aligned to Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards.
- Narrator: Released under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 for educational reuse. Visit Spark and Anvil for the full transcript.
Reading together with a grown-up? A card for the grown-up
For the grown-up: ask one question, then wait. When they answer, add one word to what they said. Tap the button when they have said something — that is one turn each, a circle. Nothing is recorded or kept.
Let them finish it
Say “Hatch makes a guess BEFORE looking, then checks what really happens …” and stop. Let them finish it.
Now wait. Count slowly to five in your head. Their answer is worth the quiet.
Circles together: 0
The SproutLab ensemble
Hatch is one of the friends in SproutLab. Each friend shows you one idea by how they act; meet them all and you have the whole subject.
