1. Observations and Inferences
Essential Question:
How do scientists use observations and inferences?
Warmup
Look at the drawing.
What do you notice?
What do you think happened?
Created by joshua grasso

2. Observations and Inferences
How does your story change?

3. Observations and Inferences
How does your story change?

4. Observations and Inferences
What do you observe?
What do you infer?
Compare what you think now
to your earlier written accounts.

5. Observations and Inferences
Observations are what you notice
Inferences are your reactions, thoughts or explanations

6. Write one observation.
Write one inference

7. Write one observation.
Write one inference

8. Write one observation.
Write one inference

9. Write one observation.
Write one inference

10. Write one observation.
Write one inference

11. Write one observation.
Write one inference

12. Write one observation.
Write one inference

13. Write one observation.
Write one inference

14. Quantitative vs Qualitative
Quantitative observations are ones that are based on a QUANTITY.
These would be measurements.
Weight
Height
Length
Qualitative Observations.
These are based on characteristics.
Color
Size
Texture

15. Summary
What is the difference between an observation and an inference.
What is the difference between a quantitative observation and a qualitative observation.
How can people have different inferences about the same observations.

16. Scientific Method Scientists do two main types of studies.
Experimental Observational
Study, Observe, analyze
Control, Test

17. Experimental Study
To answer a question or solve a problem through a test.
Problem
Background information
Hypothesis
Experiment
Analyze data
Conclusion.

18. Observational
Can’t always test so scientist will OBSERVE and try to learn that way.
Problem: What kind of life is in a pond ecosystem?
Observation: Go out into the pond and make observations and collect specimens.
Analyze data: Study specimens.
Conclusion: Talk about what you learned.

19. Obsertainer Lab
We are going to do an observational experiment to discover what shape is in our obscertainers

20. Problem First step of the scientific method is to decide your Problem:
Problem is what question you are trying to answer.
In your lab notebooks write:
Observation Lab/ Date
Problem: What shape is inside the container?

21. Background Info
Do research to see what you can learn before an experiment.
Our containers have a steel ball and some simple shape made out of plastic that the ball will bounce off of.

22. Experiment Procedure
Make observations of the obscertainer.
You decide

23. Collect data/Observations
In your notebook write:
Data/Observations
Here you will record observations such as:
Sounds like the ball is falling off a ledge. Sounds like the ball is going in circles.

24. Make a hypothesis
Draw a circle with a shape that you think is inside.

25. Summary What is an observation?
What is the difference between a qualitative and quantitative observation?
What is an observational Study?