---
title: "Changing Your Mind with Evidence"
description: "Be willing to change your mind when evidence doesn't support your prediction — a result that surprises you is more valuable than one that confirms what you already thought"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/changing-your-mind-with-evidence-mt_obF-6VYRya
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/changing-your-mind-with-evidence-mt_obF-6VYRya.md
retrieved: 2026-10-19
---

> **Agent view.** This is the Markdown twin of the page, for tools and assistants.
> When to use this site, and the call that answers each job: https://lightmysky.com/agent-instructions.md
> API description (OpenAPI 3.1): https://lightmysky.com/openapi.json · Authentication: https://lightmysky.com/auth.md
> Pricing: https://lightmysky.com/pricing.md · Catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms.txt · Full catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms-full.txt
> Every machine-readable file on this domain: https://lightmysky.com/.well-known/ai-catalog.json
> Ask for Markdown with `Accept: text/markdown`, a `.md` address, or `?mode=agent`.

# Changing Your Mind with Evidence

Be willing to change your mind when evidence doesn't support your prediction — a result that surprises you is more valuable than one that confirms what you already thought

Subject: Science · Area: Scientific Inquiry · Ages 6 to 8
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/changing-your-mind-with-evidence-mt_obF-6VYRya

## Ready when they can

- belief revision in children research (PMC 2020)
- hypothesis testing and argumentation from evidence in young children

## Lesson: Changing Your Mind with Evidence

Before you try something, you can guess what will happen. That guess is called a prediction. Sometimes the real result matches your guess. Sometimes it does not. When it does not match, that is a big clue that your idea needs to change.

**Example.** Ben guesses an ice cube will still be solid after ten minutes in the sun. He checks it and finds only a puddle. Ben says, 'My guess was wrong. The sun melts ice.' He does not say the sun was broken.

*(drawing: When step 3 surprises you, step 4 is to change what you think, not to blame the test.)*

**Tip.** A surprising result is not bad news. It means you found something new to learn. People who study science get curious when their guess is wrong, because that is when they learn the most.

**Recap.** If the evidence does not match your guess, trust the evidence and change your mind.

## Practice

8 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [Observation vs Interpretation](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/observation-vs-interpretation-mt_Hw70LI5xza)

## Opens up

- [Could there be another explanation?](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/could-there-be-another-explanation-mt_QrVF5n7vci)
- [Analysing your own errors](https://lightmysky.com/learn/learning-to-learn/analysing-your-own-errors-mt_TDUpy57QVM)