Intro to Science Scientific Exploration

Vocabulary  Science-the human effort to understand the natural world  Nature of Science- the values and beliefs behind science and scientific exploration  Scientist- people who propose explanations for questions about the natural world

 Cooperate- two people working together and someone is in charge  Collaborate- two people working together but both are equal  Consensus- an agreed upon decision

Vocabulary Contd.  Hypothesis- educated guess  Engineer- A person who uses scientific knowledge to design useful things  Black box- a system that can not be directly observed or easily understood  Model- a representation that explains how something is built or how it works  System- parts that work together or share the same space in a meaningful way

Vocabulary Contd.  Conceptual Model- ideas that suggest what a system is or how it works. Ideas that exist in a person’s mind or on paper  Physical Model- May be a scaled model, either larger or smaller than the actual system it represents. It is a model you can touch

 Why do we create models? Scientists make models to help them understand how systems work.  Why do models change over time?  When scientists discover new evidence and collaborate with other scientists, they sometimes change their models.