Accuracy Versus Precision

Lab Brief #1

🎯 Your mission

Master the concept. Use it tomorrow.

⚡ The twist

Nature loves to surprise the careful watcher.

What you'll learn

Accuracy describes how close a measurement is to the true value, while precision describes how close repeated measurements are to one another. A trustworthy result should be both accurate and precise.

Key words

conclusion
What you decide is true after looking at your results.
evidence
Facts and clues you collect to show if an idea is true.

Make a hypothesis first

Before you start: write down what you think will happen, and why.

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Look at the vocabulary words and write a definition for each in your own words.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Design an experiment to test a hypothesis. Identify your independent variable, dependent variable, and controls. Run the experiment and present results.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Note any unexpected results and think about why they happened.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Share your findings with the class or a partner and discuss what you learned.

Question 1 of 3

Accuracy describes how close a measurement is to:

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 3

Precision describes how close repeated measurements are to:

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 3 of 3

Darts clustered tightly but far from the bullseye are:

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🔬 The more you look, the more nature shows you.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

Next: Systematic Error Cannot Be Averaged Away All lessons

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.

✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: This shows up in your everyday life more than you'd think.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Try one experiment in real life this week — even a tiny one.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “What's the most surprising thing you learned today?”

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Accuracy Versus Precision

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