Observation vs. Inference Mrs. Aguinaga

Please list the similarities and differences between these statements 1.When I rang the doorbell, no one answered. 2.The Sun set at 8:15 P.M. 3.The beaker contains 250 mL of water. 4.A gas was formed when I mixed the two liquids together. 1.That sounded like a mean dog. 2.Those clouds look like its going to rain. 3.Corn must be her favorite vegetable because she ate a lot. 4.Jill must be very popular.

Observation Use your 5 senses. Recognizing and noting some fact to gather information about the world. Observations must be specific and accurate. Example: (Incorrect): The Burning bag smelled nasty. (Correct): The burning bag smelled similar to rotten eggs.

2 Types of Observations: #1 Qualitative Observations: Factual descriptions that don’t use numbers. Example: Mr. Jones has Blue eyes. #2 Quantitative Observations: Factual descriptions that do use numbers. Example: Mr. Jones has two (2) eyes.

Inference A possible explanation or guess about an observation. Example: When I came out of the movie theatre, the ground was wet. It rained.