Observation & Inference

You can observe a lot just by watching

Yogi Berra

Observations • Any information collected with our five

senses. • Quantitative – measureable or countable

» 3 meters long

» 4 marbles

» 50 pounds

» 35 degrees Celsius

• Qualitative – describable, not measureable

» red flowers

» smells like fresh baked cookies

» Tastes bitter

• A skill for describing scientific events

Observations

Objective • an observation

based on fact fact – a piece of information

that can be strictly defined and proved true.

Subjective

• an observation based on opinion

opinion – a statement that

expresses a belief, value, or feeling

Observations

• Science looks like fun today.

• Kanye West’s songs sound good.

• The Smartboard is white and grey.

• Poutine taste good.

• The summer was too short.

• There are sixty seconds in a minute.

Look at these two sets of

animal tracks.

List at least 3

OBSERVATIONS

Make Observations

Now what do you think?

Make 3 OBSERVATIONS

Make an INFERENCE

Inference

• Conclusions based on observations.

• The process of drawing a conclusion from evidence or

observation

Practice:

• Observations:

• I hear people screaming.

• I smell cotton candy, popcorn, and vomit.

• I see a lot of people.

• Inference = ?

Now what do you think?

Make 3 OBSERVATIONS

Make an INFERENCE

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