OBSERVING
OBSERVING
Observing is the fundamental science process skill. You observe objects
and events using all your five senses which are sense of sight, touch,
hearing, smell and taste.
By observing, you are able to describe the colors of the rainbow, the
feeling of your mother’s warm hugs and embrace, the sound of your
childhood toys, the smell of your favorite foods and the taste of the
sweetest candies and chocolates you have tasted.
As you would notice, through observing, you were able to learn about
the things around you, its properties, characteristics, similarities and
differences and appreciate its wonders and beauty.
• The ability to make good observations is also important to
the development of the other science process skills:
communicating, classifying, measuring, inferring, and
predicting.
• The simplest observations, made using only the senses, are
qualitative observations. For example, the leaf is light green
in color or the leaf is waxy and smooth.
• Observations that involve a number or quantity are
quantitative observations. For example, the mass of one leaf
is five grams or the leaves are clustered in groups of five.
• Quantitative observations give more precise information
than our senses alone.
Tell what particular sense or senses are
manifested in the given questions.
Tell whether the following observation is
qualitative or quantitative?
1. There are five ducks swimming on the pond.
2. Seawater is saltier than lake water.
3. Chita is more academically prepared than Chito.
4. Marieta owns five goats, three dogs and a dozen of cats.
5. She loves eating Korean food.
6. The children are dancing gleefully and gracefully.
7. Jose is managing more than a hundred of employees in
their company.
8. I have a fever today.
Observing means:
(a) becoming aware of an object or event by using any of the five senses to
identify properties, and
(b) using one or more of the five senses to gather or collect information
about objects and phenomena or events. The information gathered is
also called an observation. Its purpose is to learn about the world
around us.
Observation may employ measurements and calculations.
For example, when you look out the window and see the raindrops fall,
you say it is raining.
This statement is an observation.
• To gather information by observing objects, you may use
special tools to extend the power of your senses.
• For example, to extend the power of your eyes, you use
tools/instruments such as a magnifying glass, microscope,
camera or a telescope.
• What gadgets/instruments do you use to extend the power
of your senses?
• During an experiment, a scientist observes and record
changes. He or she enters data into a record book so that
trends and other information can be inferred.
Observation maybe Qualitative or Quantitative.
Qualitative observations consist of data that pertain to qualities or
characteristics and which are gathered through the perceptions of the
stimuli, such as scents or smell. It is collected from simple observations
and description.
Example:
1. The plant grew taller in treatment A than in treatment B.
2. Choco ice cream is sweeter than cheese ice cream.
3. Mice fed with commercial feeds are irritable.
Quantitative observations consist of numerical data. The observation is
made with instruments such as ruler, balances, graduated cylinder,
thermometer and many other measuring devices. It is more exact. The
data presented in numbers tell exactly how tall or short, or how low or
how high is the temperature of the experimental subject.
Example:
1. Marian had successfully passed the 200 steps before reaching the
top of the shrine.
2. The average weight of the elephant’s tooth is about 4 kilograms.
3. Baby Joe has a fever. His body temperature is 38.30C.
TIPS WHEN MAKING
OBSERVATIONS
1. Use as many senses as you can. Never taste unless you are
told to do so.
2. When you pick up something or when you are watching an
event, think about how you can use your senses to get
information about the object or event.
3. Describe only what you observe directly through your
senses.
4. Take note of changes. Include observations before, during
and after the change.
Direction: A. Tell whether the following observations are qualitative or
quantitative. Write your answer in your notebook.
1. The sky is blue.
2. Mother went to the market to buy 5 dozen eggs and 3 kilograms white
sugar.
3. I saw different footprints on the sand.
4. The chicken adobo smells yummy.
5. There are 10 species of fish addition to the aquarium of my cousin.
6. Enchong ran 10m/sec in the recent tournament in their school.
7. The durian tree bears many flowers.
B. Identify what sense/s is used in the given situation. You can write
more than 1 answer.
8. The cactus has a flower however it smells bad.
9. The man is heading the carabao north.
10. I hear the bird chirping in the ceiling..
11. The mango is sweet.
12. The ampalaya has a bitter taste.
13. Jeff is taller than John.
14. The surface of the able is smooth.
15. The skin of the alligator seems hard and thick.
Activity: Wanna Go on a Trip?
Go to your vegetable garden or flower garden or in your backyard
and
look for the objects as instructed below.
Object 1: An object that moves and grows. Describe the object.
Object 2: An object that has life but is inanimate. Describe it.
Object 3: A nonliving object that has holes in it. Describe it.
Object 4: An object that should be thrown away because it is
not useful. Describe.
Make and write your observations similar to the table below. The
first one is given for you as an example.
