In this 40-minute lesson, students use indirect observations and deductive reasoning to determine the contents of 10 paper bags. Students use the senses of touch, hearing, and smell to produce 3 high-quality observations and draw a conclusion about the contents. The conclusion can be incorrect, as long as they use deductive reasoning. Try using coffee grounds or a used gym sock to encourage using the sense of smell! The lab emphasizes quality observations while introducing students to the concept of indirect observation.

File includes 2-page student handout and 1 page teacher instructions.

Indirect Observatin Lab by Nicole Gruber Koller is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.