1. THE NATURE OF SCIENCE ESSENTIAL QUESTION: What is SCIENCE? What’s in it for me? CHEMISTRY PHYSICS

2. WHAT is SCIENCE…… What does science mean to you????

3. Science is…… It’s something that you do! It’s the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experimentation.

4. Science is a ……….  Way of knowing ( Knowledge)  Study of natural world (process)  Involves observing, proposing explanations, testing explanations  Evidence-based CURIOSITY! ASK WHY.

5. WHY do we study Science……

6. Science Literacy is…… Scientific literacy is the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity. Scientific literacy means that a person can ask, find, or determine answers to questions derived from curiosity about everyday experiences. It means that a person has the ability to describe, explain, and predict natural phenomena. Scientific literacy entails being able to read with understanding articles about science in the popular press and to engage in social conversation about the validity of the conclusions. Scientific literacy implies that a person can identify scientific issues underlying national and local decisions and express positions that are scientifically and technologically informed.

7. WHAT is the US S.T.E.M. Initiative? Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education "Whether it's improving our health or harnessing clean energy, protecting our security or succeeding in the global economy, our future depends on reaffirming America's role as the world's engine of scientific discovery and technological innovation. And that leadership tomorrow depends on how we educate our students today, especially in math, science, technology and engineering." - graco nautilius adjust harnessgraco nautilius adjust harnessBarack Obama, January 2010

8. Be careful…  Sometimes we think science can do things it can’t OR does more than we think--there are about science

9. Science is about  Observations and making inferences  It is your time to act like scientists………

10. What happened here? What do you OBSERVE? What do you think is going to happen next?

11. Now what do you think?

12. Infer what happened based on your observations.

13. Word to avoid: ‘ PROVE’  Science can’t really PROVE anything absolutely.  Scientific knowledge is based on evidence- -lots and lots of tests, observations, etc.  But none of the methods of science allow us to examine every possible case--past, present and future. We can’t presume to know this (not part of natural world)

14. Observation  Any information collected with the senses.  The skill of describing scientific events.  __________ Inference ______________  Conclusions or deductions based on observations.  The process of drawing a conclusion from given evidence.

15. Two types of Observations Qualitative: Uses senses to describe Ex: color and consistency of sand, minerals present etc. Quantitative: Uses tools to take a numerical measurement Ex: actual size of grains, actual size and number of crabs at various sites.

16. Nature of science video The Nature of Science

17. a Nature of Science quiz… What do you know about science? (Answer True or False) 1)Science is a system of beliefs. 2)Scientists are totally objective in their work 3)The scientific method is the basic, 5-step guide for conducting scientific research. 4)Doing science involves creativity. 5)Scientific ideas are tentative and can be modified or disproved, but never proved.