Catalyst:
Look
at
the
following
picture.



What
is
happening?

Write
a
short
paragraph/story
about
what
you
think
happened.
Observa?on
vs.
Inference
 Remember…
• An
observa?on
is
the
act
of
gathering
informa?on
by
using
your
senses
 What
is
an
inference?
• An
inference
is
the
process
of
drawing
a
conclusion
from
given
evidence.
 So
for
the
Catalyst…
• Possible
observa?ons
might
be:
‐
there
are
two
sets
of
tracks
‐
one
set
of
tracks
is
smaller
than
the
other
‐
the
two
sets
of
tracks
meet
‐
only
one
set
of
tracks
is
visible
aHer
the
two
sets
meet
 So,
for
the
Catalyst…
• Possible
inferences
might
be:
‐
two
animals
were
walking
toward
one
another
‐
the
animals
had
a
fight
‐
the
bigger
animal
ate
the
smaller
animal
 How
do
observa?ons
and
inferences
differ?
• An
observa?on
is
only
what
you
can
actually
see,
smell,
taste,
touch
or
hear
• An
inference
is
what
you
decide
based
on
those
observa?ons
 AN
INFERENCE
IS
NOT
A
HYPOTHESIS!!!!!!!!!!
A
hypothesis
is
a
possible
answer
to
an
experimental
ques?on.
An
inference
is
based
on
observa?on
or
opinions
(no
ques?ons).
For
example…
OBSERVATIONS:
‐Has
fur 





all
based
on
sight
‐
Has
on
Superman
shirt
‐
Standing
on
leaves
‐
Has
zipper

INFERENCES:
‐This
animal
is
a
squirrel
(based
on
observa?ons)
‐
This
picture
is
fake
(based
on
my
opinion)
‐
This
squirrel
is
about
to
fly
away
and
save
people
(based
on
my
opinion)
Why
Is
It
So
Important
to
Differen?ate
Between
Observa?ons
and
Inferences?
• In
science,
we
need
to
base
our
hypotheses
and
experiments
on
facts
and
observa?ons
• If
we
base
our
hypotheses
and
experiments
on
opinions
or
inferences,
we
can
never
prove
anything!
• Science
is
based
on
facts
and
observa?ons,
not
INFERENCES!