What Is Science?

1. Science is limited to studying only the natural world. 2. The natural world are those phenomena that can be investigated, discovered, and observed by using the process of science. What is Science?

3. Scientific processes include: - Observation - Controlled Experiments - Evaluations - Reasoning What is Science?

Science is Observable All science is based on observation, events which can be perceived with our senses, either directly or indirectly.

Science is Testable All ideas (hypothesis, theories) in science must be subject to testing (to being disproved). Every logical means should be attempted to show that such ideas are NOT valid. If they survive such tests, they are proportionately strengthened.

In order to achieve the highest possible, and reduce subjective judgment as much as possible, all observations should be quantifiable by acceptable and appropriate standards. Science is Measurable

Any test or observation of a scientific idea should be repeatable by different people. Science is Repeatable

The concepts (hypothesis and theories) and even the “facts”, the observations of science are subject to change, as new techniques and new perspectives and new information comes to light. Nothing in science is said to be considered “fixed” for all time. Science is Modifiable

Good hypothesis (plausible explanations) should offer or suggest predictable outcomes of carefully, controlled and crafted testing as well as alternative outcomes. Science is Built Upon Testable Predictions

Wherever possible, hypotheses should be tested by experimentation. This experimentation should be “controlled” which means they are so crafted as to eliminate all variables but one, the one being considered the critical element of the hypothesis. Science is Based On Experimentation

1. Science does NOT have all the answers to all of the questions in the universe nor can it solve all human problems and questions. 2. Science is not biased. 3. Science is subject to revision, correction, and rejection with new evidence. What is Science?

Scientific inquiry refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence derived from their work.

Inquiry also refers to the activities of students in which they develop knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, as well as an understanding of how scientists study the natural world. —National Research Council, National Science Education Standards, 1996, p. 23

The Nature of Scientific Inquiry: Science as a Way of Knowing An important aspect of scientific inquiry is that science is only one of many ways that people explore, explain, and come to know the world around them.

There are threads of inquiry and discovery in almost every way that humans know the world.

All of the ways of knowing contribute to humanity’s general body of knowledge.

Each way of knowing addresses different issues and answers different questions.

Science is a way of knowing that accumulates data from observations and experiments, draws evidence based conclusions, and tries to explain things about the natural world.

Science excludes supernatural explanations and personal wishes.

In some ways of knowing, the meaning of statements or products is open to interpretation by any viewer.

Science is different because it is characterized by a specific process of investigation that acquires evidence to support or reject a particular explanation of the world.

Although the meaning of the evidence can be debated, the evidence itself is based on careful measurement and can be reproducibly collected by any individual using appropriate techniques.