Changing Your Mind with Evidence · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Changing Your Mind with Evidence

Science · Scientific Inquiry · ages 6-8
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. You guess it will rain today. It stays sunny all day. What is the evidence?

    • Your guess
    • What actually happened outside
    • What you hoped would happen

  2. Mia guesses a rock will float. She puts it in water and it sinks. What should Mia do?

    • Say the water is broken
    • Change her guess: rocks sink
    • Ignore what happened

  3. A surprising result means something went wrong with the test.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. Which child is changing their mind because of evidence?

    • Ana says her guess was wrong after seeing the test result
    • Ben says the test lied because his guess felt right
    • Cleo skips the test since she is sure she is right

  5. Tom guesses his plant will grow faster in a dark closet. He tests it and it grows slower. What should Tom think now?

    • Plants need light to grow well
    • The closet was too small
    • His first guess must still be right

  6. It is more useful to learn from a result you did not expect than from one that just matches your guess.

    Circle one:   True   False

  7. Two friends test if paper airplanes fly farther with big wings. The small-wing plane flies farther, which surprises both of them. What should they do next?

    • Decide the test does not count since it was unexpected
    • Throw out the result because it was surprising
    • Think about why small wings worked and test it again

  8. Ravi guessed a magnet would pull a plastic spoon. It did not move. Ravi says, 'The magnet must be broken,' and grabs a new one. What is Ravi doing wrong?

    • He is testing carefully like a scientist
    • He is not accepting that plastic is not attracted to magnets
    • He is changing his mind based on evidence
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Answer key

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

Changing Your Mind with Evidence W1-mt_obF-6VYRya-s1

  1. What actually happened outside · Evidence is what really happens, not what you guessed or hoped.
  2. Change her guess: rocks sink · The water showed the true answer. Mia's guess should change to match it.
  3. False · A surprising result is not a mistake. It is a clue that your guess needs to change.
  4. Ana says her guess was wrong after seeing the test result · Ana looked at what really happened and updated her thinking. That is changing your mind with evidence.
  5. Plants need light to grow well · The test gave Tom new evidence. He should use it to update his idea about plants and light.
  6. True · A result you did not expect teaches you something new about how things work.
  7. Think about why small wings worked and test it again · Surprising results are worth exploring, not throwing away. Testing again helps confirm what is really going on.
  8. He is not accepting that plastic is not attracted to magnets · Ravi is avoiding the evidence. Instead of blaming the magnet, he should ask if his guess about plastic was wrong.
Worksheet · LightMySky