1. Lecture 1.2: Observations vs. Inferences 8th Grade Physical Science Ms. McKinley

2. Observations
Describing facts and occurrences
Info collected with 5 senses
Example: You leave the movie theater and OBSERVE that the ground is wet.

3. Inferences
A possible explanation/guess/conclusion about an observation
Example: You leave the movie theater and OBSERVE that the ground is wet, so you INFER that it rained.

4. Tracks like these are common in parts of New England and in the southwestern United States.
What do you OBSERVE?
What can you INFER?

5. Now what do you think?

6. Infer what happened based on your observations.
Would a true scientist just infer what happened and move on? No? Ok so what would they do?
Infer what happened based on your observations.

7. Observation (O) or Inference (I)?
_____ 1. A man screamed, grabbed his chest, and fell to the floor.
_____ 2. The pigeon was probably pecking at bread crumbs because it was hungry.
_____ 3. The girl looked both ways before crossing the street.
_____ 4. A man was talking loudly to himself in the mall, so he was probably crazy.

8. Answers O I

9. Observation (O) or Inference (I)?
_____ 5. He honked his horn a lot in rush hour traffic.
_____ 6. During the lecture Mariana stared at the ceiling, took no notes, and looked at the clock twelve times.
_____ 7. Alex must have been sad because he was crying about his broken fire truck toy.
_____ 8. Ken was probably angry because she saw Barbie with another man.
_____9. Even though Adriana didnt say anything, I could tell by her laughing that she was having a good time.

10. Answers O I

11. Summary (3 sentences)

12. Exit Slip
Identify each statement as an observation (O), inference (I), or prediction (P)
Write your name on the back of your slip!!!
I think it is going to be sunny today.
It is sunny today.
It will probably be warm today because it is sunny.