Summary
Focuses on running scientific tests well — measuring carefully, recording data precisely, and avoiding confirmation bias — and shows how the quality of a trial determines the trustworthiness of the conclusions.
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Discussion
- What is confirmation bias? Have you ever experienced it?
- Why is it important to record data as you collect it rather than trusting memory?
- What does 'precise measurement' mean, and why does it matter?
- Can two scientists follow the same procedure and get different results? What does that tell us?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: confirmation bias, data, record, precise, measurement, procedure, reproducible.
Try it: Run a simple timer experiment: estimate how long 30 seconds is (without looking). Record ten estimates from classmates. Calculate the mean. How close was the average guess? What does this tell you about precision vs. estimation?