Thinking Like a Scientist

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Thinking Like a Scientist
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Scientific Skills

• Observing
• Inferring
• Predicting
• Classifying

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Observing

• Observing means using one or more of your senses
  to gather information
• Observing can be either quantitative or
  qualitative

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Quantitative Observations

• Deal with a number or amount
• Example

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Qualitative Observations

• Deal with descriptions that cannot be expressed
  in numbers.
• Example

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Inferring

• When you explain or interpret the things you
  observe, you are inferring
• Making an inference DOES NOT MEAN predicting.
• Example

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Predicting

• Predicting means making a forecast of what will
  happen in the future based on past experiences or
  evidence
• A prediction is an inference about the future.

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Classifying

• Classifying is the process of grouping together
  items that are alike in some way.
• You are classifying objects and information all
  the time.
• Example