This mini lesson will cover: 1. What are the roles of inferences and arguments in science. 2. How can we make stronger scientific arguments and inferences.

Day 1: What are inferences? You hear that Johnny runs a red light and is now at the hospital? Based on what you know, talk your partner and come up with some possible explanations of what happened above. Be prepared to discuss them with the class.

Day 1: What is an inference. You just made an inference. An inference is a logical explanation of observations, gathered data and/or prior knowledge. Scientists make inferences all the time when they are designing a hypothesis or analyzing the results of experiments or other investigations.

Day 1: Not all inferences are correct. As you notice with the Johnny example, inferences may be logical but not always correct. For example, Roman soldiers observed that hanging around smelly swamps increased their chances of getting malaria. Therefore, they inferred that the odor coming from a swamp causes malaria and avoided swamps. What was wrong with their inference?

Day 1: Making better inferences How can scientists improve their inferences? 1) make more observations. 2) improve your observations with better instruments and measurements. 3) consider all possible explanations, not just the first one that sounds good. 4) make hypothesis and design tests to verify your inferences.

Day 2: Scientific Arguments What is a scientific argument? Scientific arguments are logical descriptions of a scientific idea and the evidence for or against it. Used to support a particular hypothesis or scientific claim. They are stronger than inferences although arguments may be based on many inferences. What are the requirements for a valid scientific argument? 1) Based on critical or logical thinking. 2) Supported by evidence. Evidence can be test results and/or observations that that have been repeatedly observed. 3) Considers alternative scientific explanations to explain the data.

Day 3: Practice Making Inferences 1) Indicate if the statement below is true or false, correct false statements. a) Scientific arguments are stronger than inferences. a) Inferences rely on evidence. b) Inferences are never wrong because they explain observation. c) Good scientific arguments consider all possible explanations of data. 2) What is one way to improve your inferences?

Day 3: continued

Day 4: Quiz (Bring it on!!!)