Pencil and Paper Activity:
The Aspirin Label

Drugs can save our lives, but they also can be dangerous if we use them in the wrong way. This is why medicines have labels. The labels tell us how to safely use the medicine. It's important to know how to read the labels on bottles of medicines like aspirin, so that you don't take too much medicine, or take it too often. Also, sometimes two medicines will be perfectly safe when taken separately, but they can become poisonous if taken at the same time! This is the kind of information that the labels warn you about.

Menu The Front The Back Worksheet #1 Worksheet #2 Worksheet #3 Worksheet #4

When scientists think they know the answer to a question about how something in nature works, they propose a hypothesis, that is an educated guess. But it isn't enough to propose a hypothesis. A scientist has to carry out experiments, and if the results of the experiment support the hypothesis, then the hypothesis gains credibility. If the results don't support the hypothesis, then the hypothesis is abandoned.

We can use this same kind of thinking in the everyday world when we decide whether or not to accept something someone else says. In this case we're trying to decide whether or not to accept the claims on a label of an aspirin bottle. Scientists have to test their hypotheses against experimental results. In this exercise we're going to test the claims made on the front label of an aspirin bottle against the hard facts on the back of the aspirin bottle.

Look at the labels by following the links below. There are also links below to take you to four worksheets. Print out the worksheets, and use the two aspirin bottle labels to answer the questions on the worksheets.