Observations, Inferences, &

Hypotheses
Set up your Cornell Notes for todays notes (right page)!
Observations, Inferences, Hypotheses

Date

Catalyst (Left Page)

Observations ,Inferences &
Hypotheses
Make at least 5
observations
about the picture
on the left.

How is Science a Process?

Scientists ask questions about how the
world works
We discover pieces of the answer
What we know CHANGES

Scientific Inquiry
Way for scientists to answer all those
questions about the world
Way to investigate an observable event
and getting new knowledge, as well as
for correcting and integrating previous
knowledge

Scientific Method
Make an Observation
Ask a Question
Construct a Hypothesis
Test the Hypothesis
Analyze the Data
Draw a Conclusion

Make an
Observation

Draw a
Conclusion

Analyze the
Data

Ask a
Question

Construct a
Hypothesis

Test the
Hypothesis

Observations
Information you gather using one of
your five senses
Factual information that describes
an object

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.

What do you observe in the

classroom?
In your notebook (left side), make 5
observations about the classroom
Remember, observations use one of the five
senses:
Sight
Taste
Hearing
Smell
Touch

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

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.

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.

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 she is
playing with a car.

Observation or Inference?

The grass is wet, so it must

have rained last night.

What do you observe?

In your notebook (left page), write 3
observations

What do you infer?

In your notebook (left page), write 3
inferences based on your observations

Draw an inference.
You hear a yell. You hear a crash.
You walk into the next room and
see a baseball on the floor next to a
broken lamp.

What do you infer (left

page)?

Go back to the 5 observations you

made in your catalyst
Were your observations purely
observations?
Did you have any that were actually
inferences? How do you know?

Hypothesis
a proposed explanation or interpretation that
can be tested by further investigation.
THIS IS AN EDUCATED GUESS OF
WHAT YOU THINK THE OUTCOME WILL
BE!
IT IS A EXPLANATION TO YOUR
PROBLEM/QUESTION!

Hypothesis
If the water is stirred, then the tablet will
dissolve faster.
If I add nitrogen to the soil, the plant will
grow faster.
If you drop a ball, it will fall toward the
ground.

Hypothesis
On the left side, write a hypothesis for
the following problem:
Question: Does a persons gender
determine how fast they learn?

Activity
With your pencil partner, work on
the Inferences, Observations, and
Hypotheses worksheet.

Summary

Take 3 minutes to
work on your
summary