---
title: "Evidence Supporting Ideas"
description: "Identify scientific evidence that has been used to support or refute ideas or arguments, evaluating the strength of evidence"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/evidence-supporting-ideas-mt_AstzvYDU2m
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/evidence-supporting-ideas-mt_AstzvYDU2m.md
retrieved: 2026-10-19
---

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# Evidence Supporting Ideas

Identify scientific evidence that has been used to support or refute ideas or arguments, evaluating the strength of evidence

Subject: Science · Area: Scientific Inquiry · Ages 9 to 11
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/evidence-supporting-ideas-mt_AstzvYDU2m

## Ready when they can

- Distinguish between a claim and the evidence supporting it
- Evaluate whether evidence is strong (fair test, multiple trials) or weak (single observation, no controls)
- Identify when evidence supports or refutes a scientific idea and explain why

## Lesson: Checking the Evidence

A claim is an idea someone says is true, like 'plants grow faster with music.' Evidence is the actual proof, the measurements or observations, that show whether the claim holds up.

**Example.** Sam claims music helps plants grow. His evidence: one plant, played music for a week, grew 2 cm. That's a single plant with no comparison, so the evidence is weak.

*(drawing: Ten plants got music and ten didn't, and both grew about the same height. This fair test, with many trials and a real comparison, refutes the claim.)*

**Tip.** Strong evidence comes from a fair test: compare a group that gets the change to one that doesn't, keep everything else the same, and repeat the trial several times. One example is never proof.

**Recap.** Strong evidence is fair and repeated, and it can support a claim or refute it.

## Practice

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

## Needs first

- [Science Can Be Revised](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/science-can-be-revised-mt_1GVAmcwAiO)
- [Drawing conclusions from evidence (age 9+)](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/drawing-conclusions-from-evidence-age-9-mt_nyPMkeHlVJ)
- [Analysing your own errors](https://lightmysky.com/learn/learning-to-learn/analysing-your-own-errors-mt_TDUpy57QVM)
- [Inferring characters' feelings and motives](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/inferring-characters-feelings-and-motives-mt_ukLvUD8DFA)
- [Correlation vs Causation](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/correlation-vs-causation-mt_X0Tr8IYaEd)

## Opens up

- [Changing Scientific Knowledge](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/changing-scientific-knowledge-mt_0T0Zf0YG6k)
- [Drawing conclusions from evidence (age 12+)](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/drawing-conclusions-from-evidence-age-12-mt_3jmBpEepYX)