Observations vs.
Inferences
Observations
•  Describing facts and
occurrences
•  Info collected with 5
senses
•  Example: You
OBSERVE that Ms.
McKinley has brown
eyes.
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.
Tracks like these are
common in parts of New
England and in the
southwestern United
States.
What do you OBSERVE?
What can you INFER?
Now
what do
you
think?
Infer what happened based on your
observations.
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.
Answers
1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
O
I
O
I
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.
Answers
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
O
O
I
I
I
Exit Slip
• 
• 
Identify each statement as an observation
(O), inference (I), or prediction (P)
Write your name on the back of your slip!!!
1.  I think it is going to be sunny today.
2.  It is sunny today.
3.  It will probably be warm today because it is
sunny.