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Backyard Explorer 3 to 5 / Week 01 / Monday
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Week 01 · The Field Notebook

Monday

Observation or inference?
// Observe, record and wonder like a naturalist
⏱ about 15 min

Monday: Observation or Inference?

Rocket bursts out of the workshop door. "A giant bird nested in our tree! I know it!"

Raven looks up. "What do you actually see?" she asks.

Rocket squints. "Um. A pile of sticks on a branch."

Nova hovers beside Rocket. "That is one thing you saw," she says. "The giant bird is a different thing. Can you tell which is which?"

Raven sketches in a field notebook while Rocket points to a bird by the stream.

Two kinds of thinking

A naturalist is a person who studies living things outdoors.

Naturalists use two kinds of thinking. The first is observation.

An observation is something you notice with your senses. You see it, hear it, smell it or feel it.

"A pile of sticks is on the branch" is an observation. Anyone standing there could check it.

The second kind of thinking is inference.

An inference is a guess that explains what you observed.

"A bird built it" is an inference. It might be right. It might be wrong.

Both kinds of thinking matter. The trick is to know which one you are doing.

What Rocket saidObservation or inference?Why
A pile of sticks is on the branch.observationHe saw it with his eyes.
A giant bird built it.inferenceIt is his guess about the sticks.
The leaves near it are brown.observationHe can see the color.
The tree is sick.inferenceIt is a guess that explains the brown leaves.
OBSERVATION OR INFERENCE?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
A gray squirrel is sitting on the fence. Observation or inference?
The squirrel is looking for food. Observation or inference?
The grass is wet. Observation or inference?
It rained last night. Observation or inference?

Why the difference matters

Your senses collect information. Your brain turns that information into ideas.

When you mix the two up, you can fool yourself.

Rocket skipped the sticks and jumped straight to a giant bird.

A careful naturalist writes the observation first. The inference goes next, marked as a guess.

Later, more observations can show if the guess was right.

Something you notice with your senses is an ____.
A guess that explains what you noticed is an ____.
Your senses collect information. Your ____ turns it into ideas.
StatementTrue or false?
An observation uses your senses.?
An inference is always right.?
"The flower is yellow" is an observation.?
"The flower is yellow to attract bees" is an observation.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEThe color can be checked by looking. The reason for the color is a guess.
What word names a guess that explains an observation?
WHY THIS EXERCISEAn inference is a guess that explains what you observed.
Try it
Look out a window for one minute.
Say three observations out loud. Start each one with "I see" or "I hear".
Then make one inference. Start it with "I think".
Draw what you see out your window. Circle one thing you observed, not guessed.

Sharp thinking, naturalist! Tomorrow you pick a sit spot of your own.