Using evidence to answer questions

Science · Scientific Inquiry · ages 7-9

Name ______________________ Date ____________

Which of these counts as real scientific evidence to answer a question?
- A friend's guess about what might happen
- Numbers you measured in an experiment
- What you hope is true
Look at the bar graph of plant heights. Which pot has more evidence of growth?
- Sunny pot
- Shady pot
- Both grew the same
If two plants in an experiment grew to the exact same height, is that still a pattern you can use as evidence?
Circle one: True False
The graph shows sprout height at 1, 3, and 5 spoons of water: 2 cm, 5 cm, 9 cm. What pattern do you see?
- No pattern: the heights are random
- The heights are all exactly the same
- A trend: the height keeps going up as the water goes up
Look at the graph of sprout heights. How many centimeters taller was the sprout given 5 spoons of water than the sprout given 1 spoon?
Answer: ______________
Mia's question was: does more water make sprouts grow taller? Using the graph, what should she say?
- Yes, the sprout with 5 spoons of water grew tallest, at 9 cm
- No, water does not matter
- Maybe, she should just guess
Look at the graph. Someone says room temperature does not change how fast ice melts. Based on the pattern, are they right?
- Yes, the amounts are the same in every room
- The graph does not show anything useful
- No, the graph shows more melting happens in hotter rooms
Leo found that plants in the sun grew taller than plants in the shade. He says this pattern has nothing to do with whether a plant gets light. Is he right?
- Yes, the color of the pot matters more
- No, the taller-in-sun pattern supports the idea that light helps plants grow
- There is no way to tell

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Using evidence to answer questions W1-mt_CVywzrjT_c-s1

Numbers you measured in an experiment · Evidence is real data you measured, like a height in centimeters, not just what someone thinks might be true.
Sunny pot · The sunny pot's bar reaches 9 cm, taller than the shady pot's 3 cm. That difference is the pattern in the data.
True · A pattern can be a similarity, not just a difference. Two plants growing the same height is still a pattern worth noticing.
A trend: the height keeps going up as the water goes up · The height goes up each time the water goes up: 2 cm, then 5 cm, then 9 cm. That steady change is called a trend.
7 · 9 cm minus 2 cm is 7 cm. That number is the exact evidence showing how much more the sprout grew with 5 spoons of water.
Yes, the sprout with 5 spoons of water grew tallest, at 9 cm · Mia points to the actual number, 9 cm, as her evidence, instead of just guessing.
No, the graph shows more melting happens in hotter rooms · The graph shows more melting in hotter rooms: 1 cm, then 4 cm, then 8 cm. That trend supports the idea that heat makes ice melt faster.
No, the taller-in-sun pattern supports the idea that light helps plants grow · The pattern, taller in sun, matches the idea that sunlight helps plants grow. A pattern becomes useful evidence when it connects back to the question.