1. Observation and Inference
Objectives
SWBAT differentiate between observations and inferences
SWBAT take awesome science notes!
Catalyst
What is the definition of chemistry?
What are all the things that you should have turned in so far?

2. Why Do We Take Notes? Taking notes helps us to learn
Notes are a useful tool
If you don’t remember an answer, and you have good notes, you can find the answer in your notes.
When you review your notes, you get the big picture—how what you learn builds up over time and how it all fits together.
Ask class why we take notes before revealing the hidden bullet points, see what they say. Ideally, they’ll hit on the same points I have here. Non-ideally, they’ll say something like, “because you make us.” TEACHABLE MOMENT, GUYS!!!
Key points to say:
You take notes for yourself, NOT for me. Notes are to help you, not make me happy.
These benefits only hold if you take GOOD notes. But what makes good notes “good?” Well…

3. What Makes Good Notes Good?
Good notes are written in your own words.
Good notes only contain information that helps YOU understand the material.
Good notes can be scanned quickly, so that you can easily find exactly what you’re looking for.
“Let’s be honest, and get a show of hands…”
How many people in here have copied sentences word-for-word from a PowerPoint, without understanding what those sentences mean?
How many people in here have written something down, without understanding why it’s important?
How many people in here have had to search for a really long time to find something specific in their notes?

4. The Jhaveri© Method Developed by world-famous scientist, Dr. Jhaveri.
Take a piece of paper, and fold the left side in toward the middle. The left side should be one-third the width of the paper.
Write name of lesson and date on top.
Make sure to model this shit. Extra “Teacher of the Year” points if you have an ELMO.

5. Boxing
1/14/09
Verbally walk them through the process.

6. Key Points
All our lessons have 2-5 key points: the big, most important things that I want you to learn.
In the left column of your paper, we will write key points.
In PowerPoints, key points will always be red.
“I’m going to do a quick example lesson about boxing. Some of you may know a lot about boxing, others will not. For those of you who don’t, this will be confusing. But that’s OK! The reason I chose boxing is because you’re going to face this situation a lot in biology class: sometimes things will be difficult, confusing, and won’t immediately make a lot of sense. The point is that by taking good notes, you can easily make sense of confusing new material. Taking good notes in the Dr. Lim Yankowitz method is like studying while you’re in class!!!”

7. Muhammad Ali is the greatest boxer of all time. Show video.

8. Boxing
1/14/09
Key points go here!!!

9. Supporting Details
Supporting details are everything that help you remember key points.
On the other side of your paper, write down supporting details in your own words.
YOU CHOOSE what to write down. Only write down what will help YOU remember the key points.
Write supporting details in your own words. They’re only there to help YOU, so you need to make sure they’re in words YOU can understand.
Go over what the word “support” means.

10. Supporting details about key point #1.
Boxing
1/14/09
Key point #1
Supporting details about key point #1.
Key point #2
Supporting details about key point #2.
“As we go through class, you would write the first key point HERE, supporting details about it HERE, the next key point below all of that HERE…”
Key point #3
Supporting details about key point #3.

11. Why Do We Do This?
Immediately tell the difference between super important facts (key points) and the things that help you understand them (supporting details).
Writing supporting details in your own words ensures that your notes are written in sentences that make sense to you.
Easy to find facts. Find the key point that the fact is about,
Example…

12. Boxing
1/14/09
Muhammad Ali was born “Cassius Clay” in He changed his name when he found religion in 1964, and joined the Nation of Islam. Few people know the name “Cassius Clay,” but almost everyone knows the name “Muhammad Ali.” He is widely regarded as the most famous, and greatest, fighter of all time. As an amateur boxer, Muhammad Ali won an olympic gold medal, though he later threw it into the Ohio River after being refused service at a “whites-only” restaurant. This was the first, but not the only, of Muhammad Ali’s political acts. As the heavyweight champion of the world, Ali chose to go to jail rather than fight in the Vietnam War. Ali famously said, “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong… they never called me n*g**r.” Ali was later allowed to fight again, when the New York State Supreme Court ruled that he had been imprisoned unjustly. He immediately fought to reclaim his heavyweight title, but lost—the first of his professional career.
In this slide the student wrote down EVERYTHING in my PowerPoint. Did not change my words into his own words.
“Challenge: Read the notes, and tell me what happened to Ali’s first Olympic Gold medal. Raise your hand once you figure it out.” Stop timer once last person in class raises hand. If students seem unenthusiastic, offer group points as an incentive.
The point: it’s going to take a really long time. If I gave you a study guide, and it asked “What happened to Muhammad Ali’s first Olympic Gold medal” it would be a big pain in the ass to look through your notes and find the answer, if you even bothered at all.

13. Boxing 1/14/09 Boxing is a combat sport Boxing is the world’s oldest
Two people fight for 12 rounds.
Goal = knock opponent out.
If no one is knocked out, whoever has the most points wins.
Boxing is the
world’s oldest
sport
We’ve found 7000 year old drawings of boxing matches in Iraq.
Became part of Olympics in 688 B.C.
In this slide the student wrote down key points on the left, supporting details on the right. She only wrote the supporting details that she thought would help her remember the key points, and she wrote them in her own words.
“Challenge: Read the notes, and name the four basic punches in boxing. Raise your hand silently once you figure it out.” Stop timer once last person in class raises hand. If students seem unenthusiastic, offer group points as an incentive.
The point: they’ll be able to find it really quickly. If I gave you a study guide, and it asked “What are the four basic punches in boxing” you would be able to find the answer super easily. Just scan your notes for the relevant key point, and look at the supporting details.
Note that within the format, there’s a lot flexibility: you can draw sketches to help you remember things, you can abbreviate (“=” instead of “is a”), use contractions, etc. Will do a separate mini-lesson later about specific abbreviations that are useful: b/c, w/o, btwn, .:, etc. But I don’t want to do that today; it would be too much.
Jab = quick punch, front hand
Cross = powerful punch, rear hand
Hook = semi-circular punch
Uppercut = vertical punch
There are 4
basic punches
in boxing

14. Observation and Inference
Objectives
SWBAT differentiate between observations and inferences
SWBAT take awesome science notes!
Catalyst
What is the definition of chemistry?
What are all the things that you should have turned in so far?
After everyone in your group finishes their catalyst, rotate into groups and begin working on the study guide.

15. Always talkin’ ‘bout what you got…
Look at the beakers on my desk.
In groups, you have 5 minutes to write down as many statements about them as you can.

16. Observation
Key Point #1: An observation is gathering information about the world through our five senses
Examples:
I see that Mr. Jhaveri’s eyes are bloodshot
I hear that the music is loud
I smell that poo is stinky
I taste that chocolate is sweet
I feel that ice is cold when I touch it

17. Inference
Key Point #2: An inference is a belief made about an observation
Examples
I see that Mr. Jhaveri’s eyes are bloodshot. I infer that he did not sleep much last night
I hear that the music is loud. My parents probably want me to turn it down
I smell that poo is stinky. So I bet that I should not rub it on my body
Mr. Jhaveri should give chocolate to students as a reward, because chocolate tastes sweet.
I feel that ice is cold. So I believe that it will cool down my cold drink

18. The Difference
Key Point #3: Observations are facts, and can’t be wrong. Inferences are beliefs, and can be wrong.
Example:
Michael leaves the movie theatre, and sees that the ground is wet. So Michael thinks that it rained.
Call on students to give other possible explanations.
Observation: Michael knows this by his sense of sight. Can’t be wrong.
Inference: explains the observation. But could there be any other reasons???

19. “Beyonce looks good” Not an observation!!! This is an inference!!!
It is not a fact that Beyonce looks good.
Some people disagree.
This is an inference!!!
Whoever said this believes that Beyonce is attractive because of facts: she has clear skin, shiny hair, an hourglass figure, etc.
Team points if they know who this is (they will, of course---it’s just an easy opportunity to participate. Gotta build that classroom culture!)
Ask them: O or I? Many will probably get it wrong. Then explain. Not every sentence that has the word “see” (or another one of the senses) is an observation!!!

20. Back it up like a pick-up truck
Go back to your beaker sheet.
Fold a new piece of paper in half. Sort the statements into observations on the left and inferences on the right
One sheet per person
Do this on your own
Can I get some volunteers to share their observations and inferences?

21. Observation or Inference? Part I
This kid looks like a dork.
The cowboy hat is brown.
Cake tastes delicious.
The bandana is red.
I believe it is his birthday.
IP part 1. If time is running short, skip IP part 2.

22. Observation or Inference? Part II
Make five observations about the classroom, and three inferences based on those observations.
Observations Inferences 4. 5.

23. Key Point Wrap-up
Key Point #1: An observation is gathering information about the world through our five senses
Key Point #2: An inference is a belief made about an observation
Key Point #3: Observations are facts, and can’t be wrong. Inferences are beliefs, and can be wrong.

24. Exit Questions
In your own words, describe the difference between an observation and an inference.
Label the following statements as either observations or inferences:
Glue feels sticky
CP3 is the best basketball player in the NBA
Talib Kweli writes beautiful lyrics
Pickles smell gross
Christian hears the bell ringing