1. Earth & Space Science

2. What is Science? Science -
an organized way of gathering and analyzing evidence about the natural world
Knowledge gained through experience
Accumulated through observation and or experimentation
Facts gained by systematic study
Science is more than a body of knowledge, it is a way of thinking
- Carl Sagan

3. Assumptions to do Science
Order in the Universe
Human mind is capable of comprehending this order
If conditions are the same, the results of any study or experiment will be the same

4. Good scientists exhibit certain traits
Curiosity
Honesty
An open mind
Willingness to be wrong and make mistakes
Ask good questions
Skepticism
The School of Athens - Raphael (1511)

5. The Scientific Method 1. Inductive reasoning 2. Deductive reasoning
Thinking scientifically involves the development of knowledge by observation and experimentation
Two ways to approach an experiment:
1. Inductive reasoning
Vs.
2. Deductive reasoning
specific to general
general to specific

6. The Scientific Method
The scientific method is more like a cycle than a series of steps
Hypothesis – an educated guess based on observation.
– Can be tested by experimentation
Hypothesis
Prediction
Test Prediction

7. Case Study Ignaz Semmelweis (1856) Observations:
Childbirth deaths are 5 times higher from clinics staffed by doctors and medical students than clinics staffed by nurses and midwifes due to “childbirth fever”
Doctors often performed autopsies and nurses did not
Semmelweis

8. Case Study Ignaz Semmelweis (1856) Hypothesis:
Doctors transmit “cadaveric matter” to their patients
If a doctor performs an autopsy, then their hands would be contaminated with “cadaveric material” which may kill a patient who is exposed to this material.
Prediction:
If Doctors washed their hands it would eliminate cadaveric matter from being transmitted to patients

9. Experimental Design – experiment designed to test the hypothesis
Case Study
Experimental Design – experiment designed to test the hypothesis
Control – nothing changes (no new variable added)
(doctors do not wash hands)
Independent variable – what changes
(doctors wash off “cadaveric material”)
Dependent variable – changes in response to independent variable – what you measure for results
(# patients getting “childbed fever”)

10. Case Study Data Collection
Quantitative data = numbers obtained by counting or measuring
(# of patients affected, % concentration of soap used etc.…)
Qualitative data = descriptive observation
(severity of symptoms, age of patients, first birth? etc.…)

11. Case Study Results and Analysis
Childbirth deaths reduced when doctors washed their hands
Conclusions
Did the experiment support the hypothesis?
What new hypotheses can be made and tested?
In biology, not all hypotheses can be tested in a controlled experiment (Does taking prenatal vitamins during pregnancy cause a higher IQ?)
Transmission of “cadaveric material” caused “childbirth fever”

12. Case Study So what affect did this have on the scientific community?
Semmelweis's observations conflicted with the established scientific and medical opinions of the time.
His ideas were rejected by the medical community.
Semmelweis could offer no acceptable scientific explanation, and some doctors were offended at the suggestion that they should wash their hands.
Semmelweis's practice earned widespread acceptance only years after his death, when Louis Pateur confirmed the germ theory (1890s)

13. Scientific Theory
Theory = a well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations and hypotheses
Theories have been tested and supported by many lines of evidence
They are the dominant view among scientists
Examples: Relativity (gravity), Cell, Germ, Natural Selection, Evolution

14. Scientific Law
Law = a statement based on repeated experimental observations that describes some aspect of the universe.
Example:
Newtons Law of Universal Gravitation

15. Review: The Scientific Method
The scientific method is a process of observing natural phenomena, which leads to asking questions, and offering explanations that can be scientifically tested.
Observation
Hypothesis
Prediction
Experiment
Analysis
Conclusion

17. Branches of Earth Science

18. Astronomy The study of objects beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
Astronomers study the universe and everything in it, including Earth.

19. Meteorology The study of the air that surrounds our planet.
Meteorologists study the forces and processes that cause the atmosphere to change and produce weather.
They also try and predict weather and its effect on Earth’s climate.

20. Geology
The study of the materials that make up Earth and the processes that form and change these materials.
Geologists identify rocks, study glacial movement, interpret Earth’s history etc.

21. Oceanography
The study of Earth’s oceans, which cover nearly three-fourths of the planet.
Oceanographers study the creatures that inhabit salt water, measure properties of the oceans, and observe different processes.

25. 4 Earth Systems (Spheres)

26. Lithosphere
The rigid outer shell of the planet, including the crust and the mantle.

27. Hydrosphere
Made up of the water in the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, glaciers and in the atmosphere

28. Atmosphere
The blanket of gases that surrounds our planet.
Functions of the Atmosphere – respiration, protection from the Sun’s radiation, regulate planet’s temperature.

29. Biosphere
Includes all organisms on Earth as well as the environments in which they live.

30. Energy on Earth Earth is powered by two (2) different energy sources.
The Sun
Earth’s Interior

31. Why the SI System Matters
Units of Measurement
Any measurement that you make without the knowledge of the uncertainty is MEANINGLESS. - Walter Lewin
Why the SI System Matters

32. English System Inch = legally, 3 barleycorns. Palm = 3 inches
Shaftment = Width of the hand and outstretched thumb, 6 1⁄2 inches before 1066, 6 thereafter
Link = 7.92 inches or one 100th of a chain.[5]
Span = Width of the outstretched hand, from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger, 3 palms = 9 inches
Foot = Prior to the Anglo-Saxon invasions, the Roman foot of inches (296 mm) was used. The Anglo-Saxons introduced a North-German foot of 13.2 inches (335 mm), divided into 4 palms or 12 thumbs, while the Roman foot continued to be used in the construction crafts. In the late 13th century, the modern foot of mm was introduced, equal to exactly 10⁄11 Anglo-Saxon foot.
Cubit = From fingertips to elbow, 18 inches.

33. International System of Units (SI Units)
the modern form of the metric system, and is the most widely used system of measurement. It comprises a coherent system of units of measurement built on seven base units.
Meter:
(1793): 1/
of the meridian through Paris between the North Pole and the Equator.
(1983): The distance travelled by light in vacuum in 1/ second.

34. Length In science we always use the metric system for measurements.
SI Unit = Meter (m)

35. Area and Volume Area Volume Length x width Unit = m2
Length x width x height
Unit = cubic meter m3

36. Temperature
Degrees Kelvin (K)

37. Density Density = mass per unit volume
the amount of matter that occupies a given space
g/cm3