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InquiryForge — a research world of fair tests and causation

🎓 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. Read a real experiment, predict whether it’s sound, and see the reasoning worked out — no jargon, no lectures, nothing sent anywhere.

Open the Design Lab Causation Check

Start here

The Design Lab Read a real study — predict whether it’s controlled, whether a confound sneaks in, or whether the result is signal or noise, then see the worked-out verdict. Causation Check Correlation isn’t cause. Predict whether a study supports a causal claim or only a correlation — the one fact that decides it: random assignment? Teach the Cast Teach a research-design idea to a near-peer still learning it — teaching makes it stick. Concept Practice 16 kits from variables and hypotheses to controls, confounds, sampling & reading evidence.

All activities

Design & reason

The Design Lab A plant experiment, a teaching-method trial, a medicine test — predict controlled / confounded / signal-vs-noise, then see why. Causation Check Lurking variable, reverse causation, self-selection — predict correlation vs cause, decided by random assignment.

Practice & teach

Teach the Cast A near-peer researcher is still learning a move — teach it and catch their misconception. Mixed Practice A short round across the kits you have played, brought back to review (spaced so it sticks). Progress Your levels and how each strand is coming along — saved only on this device.
Concept Kits — 16 kits of the scientific method

Variables, hypotheses, controls, confounds, sampling & reading evidence — anchored to the science-practices standards. Hints when you want them; progress stays on this device.

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

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

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.

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