1. WHAT IS THE NATURE OF SCIENCE?

2. THIS IS THE SCIENTIFIC WORLD VIEW
The Universe Is Understandable.
The Universe Is a Vast Single System In Which the Basic Rules Are Everywhere the Same.
Scientific Ideas Are Subject To Change.
Scientific Knowledge Is Durable.
Science Cannot Provide Complete Answers to All Questions.

3. WHAT IS THE NATURE OF SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY?
Certain features of science make it distinctive as a means of understanding the world/universe
Those features are especially characteristic of the work of professional scientists, but anyone can use them to think scientifically about many aspects of everyday life

4. Science Demands Evidence
The validity of scientific claims is settled by referring to observations of phenomena
Therefore, scientists concentrate on getting accurate data

5. THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Observe and describe a phenomenon or group of phenomena
Formulate hypotheses to explain the phenomena; hypotheses often take the form of a proposed causal mechanism or mathematical relationship
Use the hypotheses to predict the existence or actions of other phenomena, or to predict quantitatively the results of new observations
Perform additional data collection or repeat experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experimenters using properly performed techniques or experiments

6. THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Observations/Data ➔ Hypotheses ➔ Hypothesis Testing ➔ Models ➔ Laws ➔ Theories
At some point in time, each stage must be reported to the larger scientific community by presentations or publications

7. THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
The scientific method does not allow any hypothesis to be proven true
Hypotheses can be disproven, in which case those hypothesis are rejected as false
A hypothesis which withstands a test designed to falsify it establishes a level of probability that the hypothesis accurately explains data and can be used for further predictions, subject to further tests

8. Hypothesis Testing

9. SCIENTIFIC LAWS AND THEORIES
A Scientific Theory is an explanation of a set or system of related observations or events based upon proven hypotheses and verified multiple times by detached groups of unbiased researchers
(One scientist cannot create a theory; s/he can only create hypotheses)

10. SCIENTIFIC LAWS AND THEORIES
As a result of our confidence in the Scientific method, both scientific laws and broader scientific theories are accepted to be “true” (accurate) by the scientific community as a whole
A scientific law or a scientific theory is used to make predictions of events or relationships among data sets

11. SCIENTIFIC LAWS AND THEORIES
The biggest difference between a law and a theory is that a theory is much more complex and dynamic
A law governs a single action or situation, whereas a theory explains an entire group of related phenomena (Mendel’s Laws versus Darwin’s Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection)
[Note: Evolution is a Fact; Darwin’s Theory is the scientifically accepted explanation for the fact(s) and mechanisms of evolution.]

12. SCIENTIFIC LAWS AND THEORIES
Genuine scientific theories must be falsifiable by applying the scientific method (data collection and hypothesis testing)
If one cannot imagine a specific investigation or experiment, based on predictions from the theory, leading to results which can further verify or refute the predictions, then the theory, as an explanation, is not scientific

13. SCIENTIFIC LAWS AND THEORIES
When the scientific community accepts a Law or Theory, it represents the best understanding of the explanations for the properties of a given system at that point in time
A Scientific Theory represents our best understanding of the “truth” about some aspect of the universe, even though it is not proven as absolute and is still understood to be subject to future revision, or even to rejection

14. Variables A variable is something that is changed
A constant, or control, is something that does not change

15. Science experiments use…
Independent Variable: the one factor that is changed by the person doing the experiment
Dependent Variable: the factor which is measured in the experiment
Constants: all the factors that stay the same in an experiment

16. A birdy example…
Imagine you want to see what color of bird feeders your local birds preferred.
Red? Blue? Green?
If a student wanted to determine whether feeder color has an effect, he might suggest, “if I put up a red, blue, and green feeder, birds will visit the green feeder more” as a hypothesis. He might speculate that the green feeder, being the most “camouflaged” or “natural” might be visited the most.

17. Our Constants and Variables
Independent Variable: color of the feeders
Dependent Variable: amount of seed eaten
Constants: everything else that is kept the same, for example:
the location of the feeders
the kind of feeder used
putting the feeders out at the same time
Independent Variable: the one factor that is changed by the person doing the experiment
Dependent Variable: the factor which is measured in the experiment
Constants: all the factors that stay the same in an experiment

18. Our Experimental Design
Constants
Location of feeders
Kind of seed
Type of feeder
Independent
Variable
Red
Blue
Green
Dependent
Amount of Seed Eaten

19. What experiments are you planning?
What are your variables?
How will you keep your experiment fair?

21. HYPOTHESIS GENERATION
The use of logic and the close examination of evidence are necessary but not usually sufficient for the advancement of science
Scientific concepts do not emerge automatically from data or from any amount of analysis alone
Inventing hypotheses or theories to imagine how the world works and then figuring out how they can be put to the test of reality is a creative thought process

22. SCIENCE EXPLAINS AND PREDICTS
Scientists try to make sense of observations by constructing explanations for observations that are consistent with currently accepted scientific principles
Such explanations—theories—may be either sweeping or restricted, but they must be logically sound and incorporate a significant body of scientifically valid observations
The credibility of scientific theories often comes from their ability to show relationships among phenomena that previously seemed unrelated

23. SCIENCE EXPLAINS AND PREDICTS
It is not enough for scientific theories to explain the observations that are already known
Theories should also explain additional observations that were not used in formulating the theories in the first place; that is, theories should have predictive power

24. SCIENTISTS TRY TO IDENTIFY AND TO AVOID BIAS
When faced with a claim that something is true, scientists respond by asking what evidence supports it
But scientific evidence can be biased in how the data are interpreted, recorded or reported, or even in the choice of what data are considered in the first place
A scientist’s nationality, culture, gender, ethnic origin, age, political convictions, etc., may incline him or her to look for or emphasize one kind of evidence or interpretation over another

25. SCIENCE IS NOT AUTHORITARIAN
In science, it is appropriate to turn to knowledgeable sources of information and opinion, usually specialists in relevant disciplines
But respected authorities have been wrong many times in the history of science
Aristotle

26. WHAT IS THE NATURE OF SCIENCE?
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