Observation is the active gathering of information from a source of interest. In living beings, observation uses the senses, like eyes, nose and ears. In science, observation can also involve the recording of data using specialized instruments. The term may also refer to any data collected during the scientific activity. Did you know that observing something means more than just looking at it? Many times we look at something and don't see anything. Kind of like the whiteboard that has jokes, assignments etc. Some will see the jokes, few the assignments due. Think about the first time you observed something really interesting, like a video game. Did you jump right in and start playing? Or did you wait, watch and see how the game works? When you make scientific observations you are doing two things.... 1. Quantitative observation: these observations use measures. Today I poured 150 milliliters of water into the Black Bottle. Writing down how much water went into the bottle using numbers makes this a quantitative observation. When observing runners in a race, or football players on the field, one could observe how many yards the player has run. It might be five yards or under five yards, which makes a difference in the football game. Another way to make observations is to use wordy descriptions like "black bottle", green leaves, streak of light in the dark sky. These are "wordy" observations. We can describe colors, temperatures and smells. Being able to record observations accurately is at the heart of making good observations and creating good experiments or building good structures. How can we get better at recording our observations? 1) Data Tables (the best way to see quantities and quantitative observations) 2) Lab Drawings 3) Descriptive narrative 4) Digital camera Asking focused questions helps to guide your observations: How could we measure that? What could we count? How should we record this? What do you see? What does it feel like? How does it look different than yesterday? Does it make any sound? Describe it. Observation is something we often do instinctively. Observation helps us decide whether it’s safe to cross the road and helps to determine if cupcakes are ready to come out of the oven. Standing on a roadside, our eyes tell us cars are quickly approaching. Prior knowledge warns us that stepping in front of a car is dangerous, so we wait until the road is clear. Observation is essential in science. Scientists use observation to collect and record data, which enables them to construct and then test hypotheses and theories.
Play the "Observation" game sometime while waiting in line, or riding in the car. It's kind of fun to record your data, quantitative and qualitative to see if you can find out the story behind what you are looking at.
12 Comments
Dancerina
12/5/2017 03:09:27 pm
HEY yall whats up???????
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Errol
12/5/2017 03:11:00 pm
I was sooooo close to being first!!!!! But hey who cares? before anyone asks me again why I was gone it was because I had Nutcracker up in Salt lake and when I got back it was like 10 minutes until school was over!!!!!
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Benjamin
12/5/2017 03:16:36 pm
Right now I’m having connection issues but I hate geography Becouse my mom keeps making me do it so I’m so sad also Errol good thing you were gone becouse seth was gone and his buddy became mine for the day also then there were four people at the table
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alex/caleb
12/5/2017 04:17:46 pm
we can't find the marble/ plate questions.
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kennedy
12/5/2017 04:24:27 pm
thank you so much for the blog mrs.Taylor
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gandalf
12/5/2017 04:26:59 pm
thank you Ben for being jacks buddy for the day. if you wondering why i was gone today it was because i have an ear infection but don't worry it's not contagious. so how was science today. did i miss anything big?
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Mooasus
12/5/2017 08:58:29 pm
Thank you for the blog Mrs. Taylor!!!! It really helps.
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Ben
12/6/2017 06:07:12 am
Yay I’m third I don’t think 💭 my first comment sent but I really need a paragraph
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Sadie
12/6/2017 07:13:48 am
Good job on the blog today Mrs. Taylor!
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Addy/unicorn
12/6/2017 09:48:49 am
Good job on the blog today mrs.taylor it really helps us to understand more about science
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Dancerina
12/6/2017 03:21:37 pm
I am trying to be mysterious and my name is not atrocious......guess what atrocious is without looking up the definition or asking!!!
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Mrs. TaylorI love science! Everything about the world is interesting and never boring. I love to study plants, animals, insects, and people. My favorite subjects are my students who are the most unique organisms on the planet! Categories |