Scientific Inquiry Passage #1

What is the primary purpose of observing in scientific research?

• To gather information using senses and tools

• To make predictions about future events

• To classify items based on similarities

• To evaluate data and reach conclusions

Which of the following is an example of a quantitative observation?

• Noticing that a bike is blue

• Seeing that you have 11 new e-mails

• Tasting that a lemon is sour

• Hearing the sound of a chimp

What skill involves making a statement about what will happen in the future based on past experience or evidence?

• Inferring

• Predicting

• Classifying

• Evaluating

How does classifying help scientists in their research?

• By making predictions about future events

• By grouping together items that are alike in some way

• By evaluating data to reach conclusions

• By creating models to represent complex processes

What is the difference between an observation and an inference?

• Observations are based on reasoning, while inferences are based on senses

• Observations are direct data collection, while inferences are explanations based on observations

• Observations involve predictions, while inferences involve classifications

• Observations are qualitative, while inferences are quantitative

How might making oberservations and inferences help you develop a good research question for the science fair?