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PIP’S STARHAVEN · ACTIVITY SHEET · CHILDREN

Observation or explanation?

20 minutes · Paper · Pencil

Your investigation

  1. Make two headings: observation and possible explanation.
  2. Sort these statements: “the image shows a channel”; “water may have flowed here”; “the graph has a dip”; “a planet may have crossed the star.”
  3. Pair each observation with its possible explanation.
  4. Invent a different explanation for one observation and name a measurement that could help test it.

Think, draw, explain

Which statements report what was measured?

Why should scientists consider more than one explanation?

Compare your explanation with the grown-up answer guide after you have tried.