Question

« scientific thought
science is a way of
understanding the physical
world, based on observable
evidence, reasoning, and
testing. to think like a
scientist, you must ask
questions, make detailed
observations, develop a
hypothesis, find answers using
tests, and question your
answers. in our daily lives, we
may engage in thought
processes, questioning,
observing, inferring, but we
are not always engaging in
scientific thought.
« scientists make detailed observations: observations that may
lead to a research question or a hypothesis to be tested. as a
class, you are collecting data about the food that song birds eat.
your class has set up four feeders with different types of seeds.
students take turns making observations and writing them down.
which observation would not be considered a scientific
observation?
a of the four feeders, the sunflower seed feeder
was the farthest distance from the school
windows.
b songbirds are afraid of humans so they will to
fly to the feeders that are closest to the school
windows.
c the sunflower seed feeder was empty every
day by 2:00 while the other feeders remained
more than half full.
d sixty songbirds landed on the sunflower seed
feeder, twenty-eight on the mixed blend, twenty
on the thistle seed, and seventeen on the millet
seed.
« margo had a problem. she hypothesized that students would
prefer healthy lunch options rather than just fast-food options.
she passed out a survey to 132 students to see what type of
school lunch they preferred. here are her results

Explanation:

A scientific observation is based on what can be directly seen, measured, or recorded. Option A is a factual observation about the distance of the feeder. Option C is an observation about the state of the feeder. Option D is a count - based observation. Option B is an inference (a conclusion drawn from observations) rather than a direct observation. It assumes a reason (songbirds being afraid of humans) for their behavior (flying to certain feeders) without directly observing the fear.

Answer:

B. Songbirds are afraid of humans so they will to fly to the feeders that are closest to the school windows.