Biology and “The Nature of Science ” What makes science different from other kinds of human activity? Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

The Scientific Method : the way scientists investigate the NATURAL world combines OBSERVATIONS with EXPERIMENTS only employs NATURAL explanations Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

The Scientific Method : Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

Just as there’s more than one way to make a cake, there is no one ‘recipe’ for doing science. O.H.E.C.K. is just a way of teaching the logic of how science works, but that logic can take other forms… Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

Observation Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

Observation Hypothesis Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

Observation Hypothesis Experiment Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

Observation Hypothesis Experiment Conclusion Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

Observation Hypothesis Experiment Conclusion Knowledge-Sharing Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

Observations: we see phenomena---which is just anything that makes us wonder, ‘Why?’ Use your senses + tools Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

Hypothesis: any idea that’s proposed to explain a phenomena---sort of like a ‘maybe-it’s-because’ Make a guess Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

can be either FALSIFIABLE or NON-FALSIFIABLE NON-FALSIFIABLE claims MAY be true, but they can NOT be used in science! Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

Experiment: what we do to test our ideas. Scientists often attempt to falsify ideas, rather than ‘prove’ things true. Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

Conclusion: what our results were, and what we think they mean. Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

Knowledge-Sharing: we must tell the world secrecy is the enemy of science. others must be able to repeat Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

SCIENCE: studies Cosmic ORDER uses OBJECTIVE measurement Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

uses RATIONAL arguments only, based on EVIDENCE asks ‘what/when/where/how’, etc. SCIENCE: Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

MUSIC, ART, RELIGION, ETC. : studies Cosmic PURPOSE accepts SUBJECTIVE measurement Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

will often use EMOTIONAL appeals, based on FAITH or intuition above all, is concerned with ‘WHY’ MUSIC, ART, RELIGION, ETC. : Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

Levels of Scientific GENERALIZATION : Some ideas in science are very SPECIFIC, while others are more GENERAL The more OBSERVATIONS an The more OBSERVATIONS an idea can explain, the more idea can explain, the more GENERAL the idea----and GENERAL the idea----and the more POWERFUL! the more POWERFUL! Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

In order to explain more, an idea will have to be TESTED more Thus, scientists have more Thus, scientists have more CONFIDENCE in some ideas CONFIDENCE in some ideas than in others, and we can than in others, and we can rank them in terms of their rank them in terms of their POWER TO EXPLAIN… POWER TO EXPLAIN… Levels of Scientific GENERALIZATION : Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

OBSERVATIONS are the most specific, and the least powerful of statements in science. They only tell us WHAT happened in particular cases. Levels of Scientific GENERALIZATION : Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

HYPOTHESES that can be tested, which are FALSIFIABLE, are TENTATIVE explanations for the PHENOMENA we observe. OBSERVATION Levels of Scientific GENERALIZATION : Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

THEORIES are hypotheses which are well-TESTED, which have survived many attempts to FALSIFY them, and which have the POWER to explain many observations… OBSERVATION HYPOTHESIS Levels of Scientific GENERALIZATION : Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

LAWS are general statements of great power, for which no EXCEPTIONS have been found: they are, as far as we can tell, ‘ALWAYS true, EVERYWHERE, ALL the time.’ As you might expect, they are rare! OBSERVATION HYPOTHESIS THEORY Levels of Scientific GENERALIZATION : Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

Experiments are done to test the HYPOTHESIS. Poorly-designed experiments might give a result that doesn’t prove anything, but a well- designed experiment is CONTROLLED. CONTROLLED experiments are ones which do a good job of accounting for VARIABLES. Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

VARIABLES are factors which could potentially CHANGE during the experiment. CONTROLLED variables are factors which the experimental design deliberately keeps UNCHANGED; MANIPULATED variables, on the other hand, are deliberately CHANGED. Chapter 1: The Science of Biology

RESPONDING variables are those things observed to change during the experiment, hopefully due to the manipulated variable! INDEPENDENT variables are things which will constantly change regardless how the experiment’s design: the usual example is TIME. Chapter 1: The Science of Biology