Myths of Science Quiz Chiappetta & Koballa (Nov. 2004). Quizzing students on the myths of science. Science Teacher.

“Myths of Science Quiz” Science is a system of beliefs. Most scientists are men as males are better at scientific thinking. Scientists rely heavily upon imagination to carry out their work. Scientists are totally objective in their work. The scientific method is the accepted guide for conducting research. Experiments are carried out to prove cause and effect relationships All scientific ideas are discovered and tested by controlled experiments A hypothesis is an educated guess When a theory has been supported by a great deal of scientific evidence it becomes a law. Scientific ideas are tentative and can be modified or disproved, but never proved. In time, science can solve most of society’s problems.

“Myths of Science Quiz” Science is a system of beliefs. F Most scientists are men as males are better at scientific thinking. F Scientists rely heavily upon imagination to carry out their work. T Scientists are totally objective in their work. F The scientific method is the accepted guide for conducting research. F Experiments are carried out to prove cause and effect relationships. F All scientific ideas are discovered and tested by controlled experiments. F A hypothesis is an educated guess. F When a theory has been supported by a great deal of scientific evidence it becomes a law. F Scientific ideas are tentative and can be modified or disproved, but never proved. T In time, science can solve most of society’s problems. F

How did you do? Mean, median, mode...outliers? This comes from the idea that there is more to science and science instruction than the impressive body of content knowledge. In addition to viewing science as a body of knowledge, it is also worth noting that it is a way of thinking and investigating (i.e., empirical criteria, logical argument and sceptical review)

Quiz Items Beliefs Science is a continuing search for evidence in natural phenomena. Rather than a belief system, science is based on empirical evidence provided by observations of the natural world Astrology vs. astronomy? Male domain

Quiz Items Imagination There is enough to suggest that creativity is responsible for many crowning achievements in science (Benzene and Kekule’s background in design) Objectivity Gould

Quiz Items Method Iridium layer at the K-T boundary ndex.php ndex.php Controlled experiments and the gold standard Evolutionary theory, Continental drift Not the only way to create support for theories

Quiz Items Hypothesis Educated guess ~ a little more rigorous than that Laws and theories Distinct One predict events and the other seeks to explain the behaviour

Quiz Items Theories Tentative and can be supported and modified but never proved Society Some problems in the world are not within the realm of science Political for example We can feed about 16 billion at the moment ~ the challenge is delivery and spoilage