A Guide for thinking critically about claims made by others

SCIENCE IS SCIENCE IS NOT Limited to the natural world Observable Testable Measurable Repeatable Modifiable Verifiable Built upon testable prediction Based on experimentation Open to change Biased (can be, but shouldn’t be) Disprovable Objective Strong theories inferred from solid evidence Made stronger by different lines of evidence A search for understanding Based on proof Based on belief Based on authority Decided by debate or law Search for truth Certain Fair Able to solve all problems A collection of facts Democratic Absolute Rigid

agree or disagree and why? The Nature of Science agree or disagree and why? A hypothesis is an explanation for an observation in nature. A hypothesis is sometimes a prediction and sometimes an educated guess. A hypothesis is a description of a possible pattern observed in nature.

Link to Article

A Generalizing Hypothesis – A testable and falsifiable description of a pattern in nature. Examples: -Exercise increases heart rate. -The growth rates of a leaf’s length and width are directly proportional. An Explanatory Hypothesis – A testable and falsifiable explanation for an observed phenomenon in nature (can attempt to explain the mechanisms behind the patterns we observe). Examples: Exercise increases glucose metabolism in muscle tissue which increases CO2 production. The increase in blood plasma CO2 decreases blood pH which stimulates the heart to beat faster thus removing excess CO2 and bringing the blood plasma pH back into balance.

Which of the following are proper hypotheses? People who smoke will get cancer. If I study every day, then I will get an A in biology. Learning targets are an effective strategy for learning biology. Eating oily foods causes pimples. Exercise increases heart rate. Red is the prettiest color. If I add fertilizer to some tomato plants and not to others, then the ones with fertilizer will grow faster. Plant growth may be affected by the color of light to which plants are exposed. The vertebrate eye was designed by an intelligent being

Mr. Dr. Science Teacher Generalizing vs Explanatory Hypotheses: How do we use them in Practice?

Evolution is just a theory.

A scientific use of the word theory is very different from the everyday (non-scientific) use of the word. Example: You know how Mr. Muzny acts oddly and occasionally bumps into things? I have a theory that he is really a giant puppet controlled by thousands of tiny spiders.

In science: A theory is a comprehensive explanation for natural phenomena that is supported by laws, facts, tested hypotheses and inferences, and has predictive power. This is the official definition from the National Academy of Sciences.

Many “theores” have sketchy origins Some Theories: Atomic Theory Relativity Theory The Germ Theory of Disease Evolutionary Theory Gravitation? Gravitational Law originated as an observed pattern of nature.

Yi, Z., & Gong, Y. (2017). PPN parameters in gravitational theory with nonminimally derivative coupling. International Journal of Modern Physics D, 26(02), 1750005. Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitational Motion originated as an observed pattern of nature.

NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED), Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Nothing in science is ever proven right so it is a waste of our time.

I believe in evolution. I don’t believe in evolution. I accept Evolutionary Theory as the most likely scientific explanation for how and why there are so many kinds of different living things. Others explanations either do not have any evidence for their claims or are simply not science.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrzMhU_4m-g