Discussion and Vocabulary

Vocabulary  Science—way of learning more about the natural world.  Scientific Theory—Attempt to explain a pattern observed repeatedly in the natural world.  Scientific Law—Rule that describes a pattern in nature.  System—Collection of structures, cycles, and process that relate to and interact with each other

Types of Sciences  Life Science—Study of living systems and the ways in which they interact.  Earth Science—Study of Earth’s systems and systems in space.  Physical Science—Study of matter and energy.  Applied Science—Another word for technology. not really a branch of science)

Careers in Science--Vocabulary  Technology—Practical use of science, or applied science.  Engineers apply science to develop technology such as—fiber optics to transmit info., material to help swimmers slip through the water faster by studying how shark skin repels water.

Careers in Science continued Chemists ask questions such as “how can I make plastic stronger?” or “what can I do to make aspirin more effective”. Physicists might ask other types of questions, such as “How does light travel through glass fibers?” or “How can humans harness the energy of sunlight/wind for their energy needs?” Ultrasound/X-ray techs work in the medical field and study physical science because they study the energy in U/V or X-rays and how it affects a living system.

Science in Action cont.  Science—Involves asking questions.  Some skills scientists use to gain knowledge are thinking, observing, predicting, investigating, researching, modeling, measuring, analyzing, and inferring.  Science can also advance with luck and creativity.  Investigations follow a general pattern as illustrated in the next slide.

Science in Action Scientific Method

More  You observe something then ask a question about what you observed.  Collect information through research by talking to other scientists, read books, and scientific magazines to learn all they can about what is already known about their question.  Scientists may make more observation, make a model or perform investigations.

Scientific Method cont.  Questioning and observing leads to taking a guess. This guess has a name: hypothesis  Hypotheses—a reasonable and educated possible answer based on what you know and what you observe.  Analyze the hypotheses by asking if any other possible explanations exist.  Make a prediction—if your hypothesis is correct what would you expect to happen?

Then…..  Test your Hypothesis—by performing an investigation.  Organize your findings in a chart, table or graph for ease in drawing conclusions as in the example on the next slide.

Wow movin’ on  Drawing conclusions—when you draw conclusions you use all the data from your observations/investigations to make an inference.  Infer-making an inference or to infer means to draw a conclusion based on what you observe.  Then you must communicate your findings.

Communicating Findings  WHY—So other scientists can continue the work of another scientist or try to duplicate the work of another scientists.  HOW—Writing reports, making graphs-charts- tables, speeches to other scientists.  WHAT—The results of the investigation as well as the methods by which the investigation was done.  WHERE—Science journals, books, on the Internet, make speeches at meetings

EXPERIMENTS One way to investigate a question involving the effect of one factor on another is a  Controlled experiment—involves changing one factor and observing its effect on another while keeping all other factors constant.  Variables—factors that can be changed in an experiment  Constants—variables that are not changed in an experiment.

LAB SAFETY  Keep yourself and those around you safe by obeying the safety symbol warnings.

More Safety To test the odor of fumes you should— Waft the fumes toward your nose. To dispose of chemicals after lab— Follow teachers instructions. If you spill something you should— Clean it up immediately and tell the teacher. People with long hair should— Tie it back. If you get chemicals on your skin you should- Rinse with cool water for 15 minutes and tell the teacher.

Safety—The rest of the story Before heating glassware, make sure— It is not cracked or broken When working with chemicals, heat or glassware you should wear— Safety goggles When working with a hot container you— Use tongs or gloves to pick it up After handling an chemicals in lab you— Should wash your hands

Hooray—On to Models  Types:  Physical Computer Idea the mathematical equation E = mc2

What can Models do?  Models Communicate—observations and ideas to other people.  Models Test Predictions—test how air bags in cars will work.  Models Save Time, Money and Lives-- safer and less expensive than using the real thing. Crash-test dummies for example.

Limitations of Models  Models change as new observation and discoveries are made. Critical thinking—combining what you already know with the new facts you are given and decide if you should agree with something.

You DID It!!!!!