Minerals and Rocks UnitWeek 18

Directions1.Prepare your desk for science.2.Use voice level 2 (conversation) discuss the

following question:• What is an observation? What is an inference?

What is the difference between the two?

Targets & Warm UpTargets:•Students will distinguish between observations and inferences.•Students will understand how fossils tell us more about the Earth.

Warm Up: What is an observation? What is an inference? What is the difference between the two?

Observations

• An observation is the gathering of information by using our five senses:– Sight– Smell– Hearing– Taste– Touch

Observation Examples• The flower has white petals• The flower has seven petals• Miss Pien has brown eyes• Miss Pien has two eyes

Inferences

• Inferences are an explanation for an observation you have made.

• They are based on your past experiences and prior knowledge.

Observations vs. Inferences

Observation• The grass on the school’s

front lawn is wet.

Inferences• It rained.• The sprinkler was on.• There is dew on the grass

from the morning.• A dog went to the bathroom

on the grass.

Observations vs. Inferences

Observation• The school fire alarm is

going off.

Inferences• There is a fire in the school.• We are having a fire drill.• A student pulled the fire

alarm.

Observations vs. Inferences

Observation• A student is sitting in the

main office.

Inferences

?

Inference vs. Observation Video

Table of Contents

Date Title PageFossil Observations and

Inferences54

Once you are finished with the Table of Contents, go to page 54 and add the title and date to the top of the page.

PART AA time machine has been invented that travels into the past and takes pictures, sending them to the present. You are asked to look at one of the pictures and interpret what you see. Put an “O”

before the statements that are observations and an “I” before the statements that are inferences.

stegosaurus

camptosaurus

______ 1. The volcano is erupting.______ 2. The camptosaurus is going to eat the stegosaurus.______ 3. The stegosaurus will run into the water to escape.______ 4. The camptosaurus is leaving tracks in the ground.______ 5. The ground where the camptosaurus is walking is wet.______ 6. There are plants growing in the water.______ 7. The camptosaurus is going into the water to eat the plants.______ 8. There is a tree growing next to the river.______ 9. The tree looks like a palm tree.______ 10. The climate is warm.______ 11. The stegosaurus is eating the plant.______ 12. The stegosaurus is an herbivore.______ 13. There are bones from a dead animal by the shore.______ 14. The camptosaurus killed the animal.______ 15. Some more bones are in the water.______ 16. The camptosaurus can’t swim and will drown.______ 17. Lava is corning down the sides of the volcano.______ 18. The camptosaurus has sharp teeth for eating meat.

PART A

PART BSuppose you are a paleontologist and you have just discovered a layer of rock with many fossils in it, both petrified bones and tracks. Decide whether the following statements are observations or

inferences.

______ 1. There are tracks from three different animals in the rock.

______ 2. One animal was chasing another animal.______ 3. Two different animals died in this spot.______ 4. When the animals walked here the ground was wet.______ 5. One of the animals that died here had bony plates.______ 6. One of the animals that died here had sharp teeth.______ 7. The animal that had sharp teeth ate meat.

PART B

Reflection Questions

• How can scientists use fossils to make inferences about the Earth long ago?

Targets (Revisited)

• Students will distinguish between observations and inferences.

• Students will understand how fossils tell us more about the Earth.

Homework

Subject Homework Due DateScience None None

Happy New Year! See you in 2015!