Infer or Not To Infer

Infer or Not To Infer

Infer or Not To Infer
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 5 to 7
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	9.69

Vocabulary

challenging words:

extrapolate, inferential, interpolate, observation, everyday, leads, based, judgments, absolute, surrounding, better, infer, ping-pong, rate, scientist, decrease

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Infer or Not To Infer
By Trista L. Pollard

¹     Everyday we make judgments based on our observations. Your friend's dog may not like you because every time you go to pet the dog it growls. When your teacher hands back your geography test, he smiles which makes you think that you did very well. When you step outside in the morning, you notice it is very cloudy. You have a feeling it will rain, so you decide to carry your umbrella in your backpack. You have used two very important science process skills used by all scientists. These skills are called inferring and predicting.

²     When scientists infer, they draw conclusions, interpret, and try to explain their observations. For example, if a scientist observes that Plant A has a higher rate of growth when it is placed on the counter than when it is on the window sill, the scientist might infer that this plant grows better in the shade than in the sun. Inferences can also be made from recorded data. One example would be when students examine results from an experiment on bounce height of three different types of balls. Students would examine the bounce height of ping-pong balls, marbles, and rubber balls. Based on the data, students could explain whether the height at which the balls were dropped would affect the height the ball would bounce. Scientists also make inferences from data that is received indirectly. There are many places scientists cannot visit due to safety or lack of access. When scientists study volcanoes, they use evidence from the area surrounding the volcano to make inferences about the qualities of materials inside the volcano. This type of inferential thinking also leads to another science process skill called prediction.

³     Inferring about scientific data also leads to predicting. Scientists use current observations about events to help forecast or make generalizations about future events. These predictions usually follow after numerous testing situations and observations based on these situations. An example would be when scientists study the migration habits of Canadian geese. After observing year after year how gaggles of geese invade your town's beautiful park, scientists may be able to predict the time of year the gaggles arrive and when they will depart. They may also predict if the numbers of geese within these gaggles will increase or decrease based on environmental conditions. Two other parts of predicting are interpolating and extrapolating. When scientists interpolate, they take observation data and make predictions within the range of the present data. For example, if you collected data on the growth rate of plants in five inch, eight inch, and ten inch wide pots, you could use this data to make a prediction about plant growth in a seven inch pot. If you wanted to extrapolate this data, you might try to predict the growth rate of plants in twenty or thirty inch pots. When you extrapolate data, you use current collected data to make predictions about amounts outside of that range of data. Remember, predicting is not absolute or the answer to scientific questions. It is one of the processes, along with inferring, that helps scientists to make sense of scientific mysteries.

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