Day 1

“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.” Martin Luther King Copyright 2007 – John Sayles

“Global warming is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.” Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla) Copyright 2007 – John Sayles

“We the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder.” Verdict in the O.J. Simpson murder trial

Copyright 2007 – John Sayles “The Earth’s supply of fossil fuels will be gone in years.” Jr. High science teacher in 1970

Copyright 2007 – John Sayles “I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer

Copyright 2007 – John Sayles “Energy too cheap to meter.” The experts describing the potential of nuclear energy

Copyright 2007 – John Sayles "Not only will atomic power be released, but someday we will harness the rise and fall of the tides and imprison the rays of the sun.“ Thomas Edison

Copyright 2007 – John Sayles "Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.“ Malcolm Forbes

Copyright 2007 – John Sayles “My sense of god is my sense of wonder at the universe.” Albert Einstein, on being asked if he believed in God

Copyright 2007 – John Sayles “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” ― Isaac Asimov

Thomas Jefferson “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.”

Winston Churchill “The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter.”

George Bernard Shaw “Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.”

Always keep your BS detector on “We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert”. – J Robert Oppenheimer. Copyright 2007 – John Sayles

In Biology, we taught you … that animals produce CO 2 that plants consume CO 2 Why do you care?

Copyright 2007 – John Sayles In Chemistry, we taught you … fossil fuels are carbon based compounds coal, oil and natural gas are all fossil fuels combustion of fossil fuels produces CO 2 Why do you care?

In Biology, we taught you … DNA holds your unique genetic code Type I Diabetes is the inability to produce insulin Cancer is uncontrolled cell division Why do you care? Copyright 2007 – John Sayles

In Physics, we taught you … Energy comes in many forms Energy can do work Work = Force x Distance Why do you care? Copyright 2007 – John Sayles

In this class, we’ll … use what we’ve learned in previous classes to critically examine science “controversies” using scientific processes and methodologies In other words, we’ll be applying prior knowledge. We’ll also be learning a little bit of new stuff, too Nuclear chem Biochem Forensics Environmental science

Copyright 2007 – John Sayles Coarse Goals Learn more about what science is all about Learn how science interacts with the environment religion the law ethics politics/public policy energy policy

Copyright 2007 – John Sayles Some topics we’ll discuss What do you know, or want to know, about: Nuclear power generation Global warming Genetic technology cloning gene therapy stem cell research Environmentalism vs. economic development Medical research Alternative energy sources And others that you’ll suggest and I’ll add later

What is currently in news? List some current issues in the news that are science & society related!!! ebola outbreak ??? Robots New craze of medical monitoring yourself—google, wrist bands,etc. What is making you curious? What do you want to know more about? Copyright 2007 – John Sayles

What is Science? Understand the “nature of science” skeptical evolving based on observations direct and indirect structured effort to expand knowledge searching data to uncover patterns using patterns to make predictions Ultimately to find the TRUTH

Copyright 2007 – John Sayles Student Responsibilities Each quarter solo topic presentation or duo topic presentation article summaries group debate presentation Worksheets Quizzes Tests PARTICIPATION !!!

Copyright 2007 – John Sayles So … How do we know what we know? Example: How did our human ancestors figure out where babies come from? Answer: 1. Observed certain “actions” over time produced offspring. 2. Maybe even ran rudimentary “experiments” 3. First time the scientific method was employed??