Thinking in Science
📋 What it is
Scientific thinking tests ideas against evidence and stays willing to change its mind.
🗣️ Coach says
Science is careful reasoning with evidence. A good scientist asks “what would prove me WRONG?” — a claim you can’t possibly test isn’t science. Correlation (two things happen together) isn’t the same as causation (one causes the other).
🧠 Memory hook
Correlation ≠ causation. And a real claim can be tested — and maybe proven wrong.
😂 Giggle
Why did the circular argument go round and round?
Because it kept using its conclusion as its own evidence!
😲 Whoa!
Ice-cream sales and shark attacks both rise together — not because ice cream causes sharks, but because both rise in summer. That hidden third cause fools people constantly.
✅ Quick check: Towns with more firefighters have more fire damage. Do firefighters cause damage?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
No — bigger fires cause BOTH more damage AND more firefighters called. The fire size is the hidden common cause.
A correlation can come from a shared cause, not one thing causing the other.
🪄 Trick question: “I wore my lucky socks and we won, so the socks caused the win.” Sound?
Careful — think it through, then reveal.
No — that’s correlation, not causation; one game isn’t evidence and socks can’t affect the score.
A single co-occurrence with no mechanism is not causation.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Find two things that rise together (e.g. screen time and age). Ask: does one cause the other, or is there a third cause?