Topic : Science Inquiry Skills LEQ: What are some skills scientist use?

Warm Up: List three (3) skills that each of the following individuals need in order to be successful at their job: EX: Teacher- Organized, Patient, Knowledgeable Athlete Doctor Lawyer Student

Scientists also have important skills that allow them to do their job effectively. These skills are called the Science Inquiry Skills. Science Inquiry Skills help scientists solve problems. The following are science inquiry skills: observing, classifying, inferring, predicting, communicating, making models, measuring, and making conclusions.

(1) OBSERVING Using your 5 senses to find out what is going on around you.

5 Senses Sight Hearing Touch Taste Smell Scientist observe the world in ways that other scientists can repeat, hoping that they can make the same observations that they did.

Observing Activity: Item Name Description Cell phone

(2) CLASSIFYING Grouping items together based on their similarities.

(3) INFERRING Making an educated guess based on reasoning from what is already known.

Inferences answer the following questions: WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? (PAST) WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? (PRESENT)

Inferring is making a conclusion by interpreting an observation. Ex: If you hear your dog barking you may infer that someone is at the front door. When you make an inference you combine the evidence (Barking dog) with your past experience or prior knowledge (you know your dog barks when someone comes to the door).

An inference is not a fact but only one of many possibilities/explanations for the given solution. An inference may turn out to be incorrect. To know if an inference is correct you must further investigate……

Inferring Scenarios: I am very tired today. Usually my mother feeds the fish, but today when I got home I realized that they had not been fed. My feet hurt. I received many gifts today.

(4) PREDICTING Making and educated guess or FORECAST ahead of time saying what you think will happen next. Weather people/meteorologist make predictions about the weather.

Predictions answer the following question: WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT? (FUTURE)

Predictions are based on prior knowledge or past experiences. Predicting and inferring are very similar however predictions deal with the Future. Predictions, like inferences, are not facts and may turn out to be incorrect. You can experiment and investigate to see if a prediction is correct.

Predicting Scenarios: I studied all week for my science test. I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, nachos & cheese, steak, pickles, ice cream, hot dogs, a bagel and cream cheese and onion rings for dinner last night. I stayed outside in the cold all night without a jacket. I drank 20 bottles of water before I came to school. I ran a 20 mile race this past Saturday.

Prediction V.S. Inferences Are the following inferences or predictions? Explain how you know. I have a toothache because I ate a lot of candy. I think I will win the lottery. I am very tired today because I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. When I grow up I want to be a doctor. __________________________(inference), he lost the game_____________________(prediction).

MAKING MODELS Making a copy of replica of a complex object. A model is a good way to show what a very small or very large object looks like.

MEASURING Comparing an unknown value to a known value. Tools can be used to help find the value of items.

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS Using all of the information you have gathered to make decisions.

COMMUNICATING Sharing information, ideas and findings. Scientists communicate all the time. They communicate to share results, information and opinions. . Scientists use books, magazines, newspapers and websites to communicate their work. Graphs and charts are also helpful ways for scientist to communicate data. .

NATIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS. “LEARNING SCIENCE IS SOMETHING STUDENTS DO, NOT SOMETHHING THAT IS DONE TO THEM.” NATIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS.