The document outlines the scientific method as a structured approach to inquiry, emphasizing the importance of observation and inference in gathering knowledge about the world. It explains the distinction between qualitative (descriptive) and quantitative (measurable) observations, and how inferences are conclusions drawn from those observations. Various factors, including experience and emotion, can influence both observations and inferences.

1. Science is a Process
Scientists:
! ask questions about how the world
works
! they discover pieces of the answer of
what we know could CHANGE

2. Scientific Inquiry
! Is a way scientists answer questions
about the world.
! Is a way to investigate an observable
event
! Is a way of getting new knowledge, as
well as correcting and integrating
previous knowledge

3. Scientific Method – Scientific Inquiry
! Make an Observation
! Ask a question
! Research
! Form or construct a Hypothesis
! Experiment (Test the Hypothesis)
! Analyze the Data
! Draw a Conclusion
! Communicate Results

4. Make an
observation

5. Observation
! Information
gathered using
one or all of
your five
senses.

6. Observation
! Factual information that describes an object.

7. Observations
! The plant is green.
! The piece of metal is orange.
! It is raining outside.
! The car alarm is beeping.
! The wall has cracks in it.
! The room feels humid.

8. Observations are:
Quantitative or Qualitative

9. QUALITATIVE
! measureable or
countable
ü 3 meters long
ü 4 marbles
ü 50 kilograms
ü 25 degrees Celsius
QUANTITATIVE
! describable, not
measureable
ü red flowers
ü smells like fresh
baked cookies
ü Tastes bitter
Observations are:

10. Qualitative or
Quantitative?
Qualitative - (not measureable)
! emerald-green bird possesses
black edging to the feathers of
the head, mantle and breast,
characterized by a red band
across the forehead and
conspicuous white eye-rings.
The primary wing feathers are
a soft blue, the tail is green,
and the bill and feet are flesh-
coloured, voice noisy and only
native parrot of Puerto Rico.
Quantitative - (measurable)
– 1 of the 10 most
endangered birds in
the world,
– measures ~ 28 –
30 cm (11–12 in)
– weighs ~ 250–300 g
(8.8–11 oz.), or 275 g
(9.7 oz.).

11. Qualitative or Quantitative?
_ The candy was sour
_ The bug was 5 cm
long
_ The flower is red
_ The mass of the
beaker was 122 g
_ My fingernail is 2 cm
long
_ The slug was slimy
_ That laptop is white
_ She is 150 cm tall
_ His hair is black
_ You have three
sisters

12. Inference
! A conclusion drawn using
observations and reasoning
! An explanation NOT a fact you
can detect using one of the five
senses

13. Inference
! A statement based on your
interpretation of the facts.
! Cannot be directly observed.
! The process of drawing a
conclusion from given evidence

14. Inferences
! The table looks like it is made of wood.
! The piece of metal is red, so it must be hot.
! The plant is green, so it must be healthy.
! The room is dark, so the light bulb must not
be on.
! Andrea is studying, so she probably does well
in school.
! The street is wet, so it must have rained.

15. OBSERVATION VS. INFERENCE
OBSERVATIONS
! That plant is
extremely wilted.
! The car stopped
running.
INFERENCES
! That plant is extremely
wilted due to a lack of
water.
! The car stopped
running because it was
out of gas.

16. Observation or Inference?
The guy doing a reverse vault is wearing a white
tank top.

17. Observation or Inference?
The guy doing a reverse vault is the best traceur.

18. Observation or Inference?
The grass is wet, so it must have
rained last night.

19. What do you observe?
! In your notebook write 3 observations

20. What do you infer?
! In your notebook write 3 inferences
based on your observations

21. Influences
! Several things can influence our
observations and our inferences
– Experience
– Knowledge
– Emotion
– Attention to detail.