Do Now: Write a detailed account of
what happened in the cartoon.
Tracking Our Mastery
We will be tracking how much we learn
throughout the year, so we can create goals.
1. Complete the mastery worksheet for the inquiry pretest
2. Update the mastery tracker in your notebooks for
Inquiry/Lab Safety/ and Procedures
3. Room should sound like a NINJA
Divide the number correct, by the total number of
questions for each category to find the percentage.
3
Observation vs. Inference
3
Through
What is an Observation?
1)
What is an Inference?
1)
2)
Qualitative observation:
Example:
Quantitative observation:
Example:
Make an observation about the
classroom.
3)
Scientific Method
Scientific Method:
Observation
Qualitative: Descriptive – color, texture,
odor
Ex: My phone is running slower than my
friend’s phone
Quantitative: Numerical – 3.5 m, 65.7mL
 Ex: My phone has 50 more apps than
my friend’s phone
Observations
The plant is green.
The piece of metal is orange.
It is raining outside.
The car alarm is beeping 5 times
per minute.
The wall has a 2m crack in it.
The room feels humid.
Observations & Inferences
Turn and talk with your partner
Make at least 5 observations
about the picture below
Inference
A conclusion drawn using observations and
reasoning
NOT a fact you can detect using one of the
five senses
An explanation of your observation
Example: When you entered the room, you
observed someone standing in the front of
the room, then inferred that is the teacher.
Influences
Several things can influence our
observations and our inferences
– Experience
– Knowledge
– Emotion
– Attention to detail.
Example
I observe that I see a swimming pool
I observe that my dog feels wet
I infer that my dog jumped in the water
Example
I observe that Nick is yawning
I observe that Nick has his head on his
desk
I infer that Nick did not get enough
sleep last night
OBSERVATIONS
INFERENCES
That plant is extremely
wilted.
That plant is extremely
wilted due to a lack of
water.
The car stopped running
The car stopped running
because it was out of
gas.
Boards up
Observation or Inference?
The child has a blue block
Observation or Inference?
The child playing with the car is
smiling.
Observation or Inference?
The child is happy because he is
playing with a car.
Observation or Inference?
The grass is wet, it must have
rained last night.
Observations & Inferences
Make an inference about this
picture
What do you observe?
3 observations
What do you infer?
3 inferences based on your
observations
9/12/13 Observation vs. Inference
6
In?
What are your five senses? How do they
Help us in science?
7
Through
What is an Observation? Information
you gather using one of your five
senses
Factual information that describes an
object
Key
Terms Observation
Inference
Out ? Complete WS
Give an example of an observation about
the classroom:
The classroom is cold
What is an Inference?
A conclusion drawn using
observations and reasoning
NOT a fact you can detect using one
of the five senses
An explanation
Make an inference about the picture:
Those are Dinosaur tracks
Complete the WS
Use the following picture for
guidance
Do Now
1. Make 3
observations
about the
picture
2. Make an
inference
about the
picture
House Keeping
Turn in Lab Safety Projects
Paste Observation vs. Inference notes
on the front of page 3
Observe this picture
Questions
1. Are there cars parked on the sides of
the road?
2. What color is the pickup truck driving in
the road?
3. What does the blue sign say?
4. What's the speed limit?
5. Are there any pedestrians on the road?
Answers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Yes
Blue
Yes
Yard Sale
35 mph
No
It’s important that we observe things
closely, because our observations may
trick us. That’s why scientists use tools
to gather their data.
Accurate Vs. Precise
Observations and Inference
Stations
At each station make
1. A qualitative and
quantitative observation
2. An inference about
each picture
3. Answer the questions
Observation Vs. Inference
Complete the worksheet
Exit Ticket