The Nature of Science What is Science About?

Science is a way of KNOWING Many of the facts we know today were discovered by scientists in the past.   We can use the information provided by past research as a resource from which to learn old ideas and create new ones.   Imagine if you science had never existed and you had to learn EVERYTHING on your own.

Science is a way of THINKING Science is all about looking at situations critically. This means that we should not accept information at face value but ASKING QUESTIONS Who is presenting the information, are they looking at all the possible explanations, what other questions might we ask about the subject?

Science is a way of INVESTIGATING Once we have an idea we would like to investigate, the scientific method gives us a method of logical steps to use in answering the question. Step 1: Observation - observations should be detailed and accurate. Step2: Purpose- the question of interest, what you are trying to find out

Science is a way of INVESTIGATING Step 3: Hypothesis- an idea to work from, an educated guess which stems from your observations. Step 4: Procedure - how to do the experiment, should include detailed instructions.

Science is a way of INVESTIGATING An experiment should include 2 set ups: 1) Control set up - standard set up against which the experimental set up is compared. 2) Experimental set up - same as the control with the experimental variable. Experimental variable – (independent variable) the one condition in the experiment that differs between the control and experimental set up.

Science is a way of INVESTIGATING Step 5: Results- Data- actual information collected Data Analysis- interpretation of data (graphs, data tables) Step 6: Conclusions- Report your findings. Did your data support your hypothesis? What are some sources of error in your experiment?

Science is a way of INVESTIGATING THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IS A CYCLE

THREE KINDS OF RESEARCH 1) Observational - data collection, surveys 2) Comparative - compare the data collected by different studies 3) Experimental - a designed experiment with a control and experimental set up Science Rules, yeah!

Nature of Science Reflection Questions 1. What does it mean to say that “Science is a way of knowing”? 2. What are the six steps of the scientific method? 3. What is a hypothesis? 4. What is the purpose of the control set up? 5. Why are conclusions important?