Observations & Inferences: Data Tables and Graphs

Observations Any information that you can see on the data table/graph Quantitative – measurable or countable (must have a NUMBER!) ◦Sounds like: “Mrs. Gillespie had 68 bacteria on her hands at 11:00 a.m.” ◦Sounds like: “Mrs. Gillespie had 5 bacteria on her hands at 12:00 p.m.”

Qualitative Observations ◦Describable, not measureable (does NOT have a number) ◦ Sounds like: “Mrs. Gillespie had the most bacteria on her hands at 11:00 a.m. ◦Sounds like: “Mrs. Gillespie had the least bacteria on her hands at 12:00 p.m.” ◦Sounds like: “The amount of bacteria on Mrs. Gillespie’s hands decreased a lot between the hours of 11:00 and 12:00” ◦You can describe the trend or pattern in the data: ◦“The amount of bacteria on Mrs. Gillespie’s hands increased throughout the morning, and then it decreased sharply between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.:

Suggestions ◦If you don’t have time to make observations about each data point, choose the most important points – the highest, lowest, or changes in the graph ◦You can do both types of observations in one sentence: ◦“Mrs. Gillespie had the most bacteria on her hands at 11:00 a.m.; she had 68 bacteria.” ◦Observations should NOT sound like: ◦NO: “The amount of bacteria goes up” ◦YES: “The amount of bacteria increases” ◦NO: “It increases” or “The line increases” ◦YES: “The amount of bacteria increases.” ◦Make sure the observation is about the DATA, not the title, axes, etc.

Inferences Inferences = Observations + Background Knowledge “I think _(inference)_ because _(observation)_, and I know _(BK)_.” I think that Mrs. Gillespie washed her hands (inference) and ate lunch between 11:00 and 12:00 because the amount of bacteria on her hands decreased (observation), and I know that people like to wash their hands before lunch to get rid of all the germs (BK).