Thinking Like a Scientist

What skills do scientists use to learn about the world?

• Observing, inferring, predicting, classifying, and making models

• Reading books, watching TV, and surfing the internet

• Sleeping, eating, and exercising

• Playing games, drawing, and singing

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-1

NGSS.MS-LS2-1

Which of the following is an example of a quantitative observation?

• Noticing that a bike is blue

• Tasting that a grape is sour

• Seeing that you have eight new e-mails in your inbox

• Smelling a flower

What does making an inference involve?

• Guessing wildly

• Reasoning from what you already know

• Ignoring evidence

• Making a model

Tags

NGSS.MS-ETS1-3

NGSS.MS-LS1-3

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

What is the process of grouping together items that are alike in some way called?

• Observing

• Inferring

• Classifying

• Predicting

Tags

NGSS.2-PS1-1

Which of the following attitudes is important for scientists to have?

• Curiosity

• Dishonesty

• Closed-mindedness

• Ignorance

Tags

NGSS.HS-LS4-1

NGSS.HS-PS4-3