1. Science in Context
Read the lesson title aloud to students.

2. Learning Objectives
Explain how scientific attitudes generate new ideas.
Describe the importance of peer review.
Explain what a scientific theory is.
Explain the relationship between science and society.
Click to show each of the learning objectives.
Before class, write a message on the board using a random arrangement of letters rather than recognizable words.
When students ask you about the message, point out that they are demonstrating curiosity, one of the scientific habits of mind.
Tell students: Scientists look at things in the world around them they do not understand and try to figure them out.

3. Scientific Methodology
curiosity
skepticism
creativity
open-mindedness
Discuss the dynamic, flexible, and unpredictable nature of science.
Ask: What might be useful qualities of a scientist?
You may wish to group students and have each group develop a list of qualities.
Click to reveal blanks; have each group of volunteers write their qualities on the board around the cycle diagram shown.
Click to reveal sample answers: curiosity, skepticism, creativity, open-mindedness

4. Exploration and Discovery
Tell students: Ideas in science can arise in many ways—from simple curiosity to the need to solve a particular problem.
Ask: What present-day issue or problem poses a question scientists could address?
Possible answers: how to reverse climate change, how to clean up pollution problems, how to tackle childhood obesity
Tell students: Technology plays an enormous role in science.
Click to highlight new technology.
Technology provides new opportunities to ask questions and to gather new forms of data with greater accuracy and quantity.
Technologies developed by scientists have proved helpful to society.
Activity: Give students three to five minutes to come up with one piece of technology that is helpful to their lives and why.
Ask students to share ideas with the class.
You may want to exclude the most obvious, such as cell phones.
Alternative idea: Group students and give each an area in which technology is useful and ask them to come up with examples.
(medicine, industrial, automotive, household, education, government)

5. Practical Problems
Explain that people living on a strip of land like this one in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, may face flooding and other problems.
Ask: What are some scientific questions that can arise from a situation like this one?
Have students work in groups to identify some questions that could be asked.
Possible answers: Can vegetation be used to control flooding on the inlet? What changes may occur if water levels rise due to climate change?
Activity: Have students work in groups to identify a practical problem in their community, such as pollution, to which scientific investigation could be applied. Instruct students to propose a plan with scientific-based questions and procedures for testing a possible solution.
Student groups can share with the class.

6. Communicating Results
Ask: Why is the term “new ideas” (click to reveal) found in the center of the diagram?
Answer: Each of the four processes in the corners of the diagram can lead to new ideas in science.
Click again to remove arrow.
Ask: When a scientific paper is published, does that mean research about that topic is complete? Why or why not?
Possible answer: Publication of a paper does not mean that research about a topic is complete; it may open doors for many new studies about the same topic.
Describe the following example: A scientist discovered a certain species of plant could use a chemical signal to call in a species of wasp to attack insects eating its leaves. From this discovery, a plethora of other questions can arise and then be investigated.
Ask: What are some questions scientists could investigate based on this discovery?
Possible answers: Do all plants signal with other species? Do all wasps respond to plant signals? Which plants utilize signaling to defend themselves? Are there other defensive signals that work in other ways? What benefit does the wasp receive from responding to the signal? How did this signaling relationship evolve in the first place?
Tell students: A major way scientists communicate and keep information objective is through peer review.
Publishing articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals allows researchers to share ideas and allows other scientists to evaluate and test the data and analysis.
Any scientist claiming to have discovered something new must be willing to reveal all of the details for peers to scrutinize and test for themselves.
This leads to a robust bank of knowledge that is credible.

7. Reviewing and Sharing Ideas
Explain that in tropical areas, mangrove swamps serve as the ecological equivalents of temperate salt marshes.
The results of the salt marsh experiment suggest that nitrogen might be a limiting nutrient for mangroves and other plants in these similar habitats.
Ask: How would you test this hypothesis?
Possible answer: I would set up a controlled experiment in which extra nitrogen was supplied to a group of mangrove seedlings. I would then compare the growth of these seedlings over time to the growth of mangrove seedlings grown using the same concentration of nitrogen as in the salt marsh.
Once an investigation has come to a conclusion, the information is shared with the broader scientific community.
Use the following sentence prompts to help students understand the information:
Peer review can lead to new ideas by . . .
Answer: One conclusion can inspire a new thought or related question.
Replication of results can lead to new ideas by . . .
Answer: Replication of results can sometimes show different results or inspiration to alter a different variable.
Discussion with colleagues can lead to new ideas by . . .
Answer: When scientists discuss investigations together, new ideas can surface from these discussions.
Publication can lead to new ideas by . . .
Answer: Scientists from around the world can access one another’s work, and this can inspire new thoughts and ideas.

8. Science and Society
Discussion: Use topics relating to social issues (click to highlight) and the role science plays in personal/public health and environmental issues.
Sample topics: effects of drugs and alcohol, high blood pressure, diabetes, AIDS, cancer, and heart disease
Ask: How does science influence society?
Possible answer: Scientific data helps provide answers to questions that affect everyday lives.
Help students understand that scientists do not work in a vacuum. Instead, their research is strongly influenced by society.
Ask: How does society influence science?
Possible answer: Society can limit the application of scientific ideas, especially if new scientific ideas conflict with prevailing cultural beliefs.
For example, it used to be legal to smoke cigarettes in public places. Scientific studies proved second-hand smoke was dangerous, and people started to see cigarettes differently. Eventually laws changed, banning cigarettes from most public indoor areas.

9. Science, Ethics, and Morality
Tell students: Science by itself does not automatically include ethical or moral viewpoints. This researcher, for example, is testing shellfish for toxins. The production of toxins has an adaptive value for the shellfish and does not have moral overtones.
Ask: What is bias?
Answer: When a person has a personal leaning toward a certain view of something.
For example, a mother would be biased judging an art contest in which her own children are entered.
Ask: How could bias affect scientific studies?
Answer: If the person, group, or company doing a study is biased, the outcome and results may not be reliable.
For example, a company that manufactured a new product for lawn care said the product was safe based on studies the company conducted on its own product.
Discussion: Pose an ethical question to the class. Example: Should household chemical products be required to be nontoxic?
Break students into pairs or groups to come up with thoughts.
Write a chart on the board for pros and cons.
Have students share thoughts with class.

10. Scientific Theories
A scientific theory describes a well-tested explanation for a range of phenomena.
Emphasize to students the difference between the everyday use of the word theory and the scientific use of the word theory.
Ask: What is a way to use the word theory?
Answers will vary, but likely will be not be based on the vast amount of evidence a scientific theory is. Point this out to students. Many people perceive scientific theories to be simply ideas or hunches, based on the everyday use of the word theory.
Click to reveal the scientific methodologies chart to highlight the process of how scientists produce theories.
Ask: In your own words, how would you explain to a friend that a scientific theory is more than a hunch or an idea?
Answer: When the word theory is used in science, it refers to an idea that has been thoroughly tested and is supported by a great deal of evidence, such as the theory of gravity.

11. Understanding and Using Science
Ask: How does the information discovered by scientists relate to everyone?
Possible answer: Scientists study and discover information about the world we all live in. The knowledge gained relates to everyone because the ecosystems on the planet are connected, as is all matter and energy.
Ask: Why is it important to understand how scientific ideas are developed?
Answer: It helps you assess the validity of the ideas.
Ask: Why is knowing the limitations of science also important?
Answer: It is important to know what questions science cannot answer.