WHAT IS THE NATURE OF SCIENCE?

THIS IS THE SCIENTIFIC WORLD VIEW The Universe Is Understandable. The Universe Is a Vast Single System In Which the Basic Rules Are the same Everywhere Scientific Ideas Are Subject To Change. Scientific Knowledge Is Durable. Science Cannot Provide Complete Answers to All Questions.

WHAT IS THE NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY? Certain features of science make it distinctive as a means of understanding the world/universe Those features are especially characteristic of the work of professional scientists, but anyone can use them to think scientifically about many aspects of everyday life

Science Demands Evidence The validity of scientific claims is settled by referring to observations of phenomena Therefore, scientists concentrate on getting accurate data

SCIENTIFIC LAWS AND THEORIES Theory vs. Law THEORY (WHY) A Scientific Theory is an explanation for why something happens using observations

SCIENTIFIC LAWS AND THEORIES A scientific law or a scientific theory is used to make predictions of events or relationships among data

SCIENTIFIC LAWS AND THEORIES LAW (HOW) A law governs a single action or situation

SCIENTIFIC LAWS AND THEORIES Genuine scientific theories must be falsifiable by applying the scientific method (data collection and hypothesis testing)

SCIENTIFIC LAWS AND THEORIES When the scientific community accepts a Law or Theory, it represents the best understanding of the explanations for the properties of a given system at that point in time

THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD The Experimental Method is usually considered the most scientific of all methods, the “method of choice” The Experimental Method exerts the most control on data collection and interpretation

THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD An experiment is a study of cause and effect It differs from non-experimental methods in that it involves the deliberate manipulation of one variable, while trying to keep all other variables constant Experiments must be properly designed and include controls

HYPOTHESIS GENERATION The use of logic and the close examination of evidence are necessary but not usually sufficient for the advancement of science Scientific concepts do not emerge automatically from data or from any amount of analysis alone

SCIENCE EXPLAINS AND PREDICTS Scientists try to make sense of observations by constructing explanations for observations that are consistent with currently accepted scientific principles Such explanations—theories—may be either sweeping or restricted, but they must be logically sound and incorporate a significant body of scientifically valid observations

The credibility of scientific theories often comes from their ability to show relationships among phenomena that previously seemed unrelated

SCIENCE EXPLAINS AND PREDICTS It is not enough for scientific theories to explain the observations that are already known Theories should also explain additional observations that were not used in formulating the theories in the first place; that is, theories should have predictive power

SCIENCE IS SELF CORRECTING AND PROGRESSIVE SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING SCIENCE IS SELF CORRECTING AND PROGRESSIVE