Describing Your World

Entry #4

• Learning by asking questions is called inquiry.

• Scientists use this same inquiry process as detectives to come up with theories that answer scientific questions.

I. What is scientific inquiry?

II. Observations

• Observation is a key part of scientific inquiry.

• An observation is an accurate description

• Scientists regularly make two types of observations.

A. Qualitative observations

• A qualitative observation describes qualities such as color, shape, location, taste, loudness, warmth, etc.

The honey mushroom forms clusters above the ground.Which quality is being described in this observation?

• Quantitative observations use a number or measurement to describe something.

B. Quantitative observations

The honey mushroom forms clusters of 10 to 12 caps.Can you think of another quantitative observation?

III. Inference vs. observation

• An inference is different from an observation.

• An inference is an opinion you have or a judgment you make.

• If you infer the size of the honey mushroom only from the caps you see above ground, you missed a major discovery about this fungus.

• Scientific evidence may include numbers, tables, graphs, words, pictures, sound recordings, or other information.

IV. Scientific evidence

• Scientific evidence must be objective and repeatable.

• Hooke’s drawings show in detail what he actually saw through the microscope.

• That means the drawings are objective. Others who looked through his microscope saw the same thing.

• That makes the evidence repeatable.