Simple idea for developing critical thinking

Even high school students have a tough time differentiating hypotheses and evidence. This article describes classic ideas of evidence, including claims (hypothesis), evidence, warrant, and b... See More

Even high school students have a tough time differentiating hypotheses and evidence. This article describes classic ideas of evidence, including claims (hypothesis), evidence, warrant, and backing. I especially like the simple, yet elegant, graphic model presented, which could be used at the high school, and perhaps even college level. I have used a similar exercise with black boxes in earth science (how do scientists figure out the inside of the Earth) and this would be a great addition to that exercise. I would like to see the article touch on the idea of causality, though. In environmental science and other disciplines with feedback loops, it is not always clear how to identify the relationship between two or more observed phenomena. But overall, a great idea that should be incorporated into our discussions about hypotheses, evidence, and designing tests.