Powerpoint of Lecture over Unit 1: Intro to Scientific Method Chapter 1 of your text

1. SCIENCE
• What is Science?
• Different kinds of science
– Physics
– Biology
– Chemistry
– Make your definition broad!

2. Science: A Way of Knowing
Chapter 1
Great Idea:
Science is a way of asking and answering
questions about the physical universe

3. The Role of Science
• Making Choices
– Ask questions, make observations, form
conclusions
– Applied in a more formal, quantitative
way equals science
– Science is a process

4. Choosing Gasoline

5. Why Study Science?
• Most powerful tool for understanding
• Incorporates basic ideas and theories
• Provides framework for new
questions
• Provides unparalleled view of order
and symmetry of the universe and its
workings

6. The Scientific Method

7. Observation
• History
– Greek Philosophers
– Middle Ages
• Observation – no manipulation
• Experiment – manipulation

8. Plato and Aristotle with
Students

9. Observation: Identifying Patterns
• First step in scientific method
• Regularity
• Recognize patterns

10. Development of a Hypothesis
• Second step of Scientific method
• Establish regularity
– Why is this happening?
– Hypothesis is an explanation, educated
guess
• “If I drop my keys, they will fall”

11. Prediction
• Predictions
– Hypothesis, Theory, Law
– Must be quantitatively testable

12. Testing
• Final step of Scientific Method
• Testing
– Do not prove or disprove
– Define range of validity
• Every law and theory of nature is subject
to change, based on new observations

13. Testing: Collecting data
• Measurement-better description
• Data-table or graph
• Patterns emerge
• Describe:
– In words
– In equation form
– In symbols

14. Measurements Presented
Visually in the Form of a Graph

15. Measurements of
Falling Objects

16. Predicting the Behavior of
Falling Objects

17. The Scientific Method
in Operation
• Cycle
– Not rigid
• Results must be reproducible
• Cycle is continuous
– Test one hypothesis at a time

19. Fig. 1-15-2

20. Facts, Hypotheses,
Laws, and Theories
• Test many hypotheses, can lead to
theory or law
– Hypothesis: educated guess
• Theory
– Well-substantiated description or
explanation
– Broad
• Law
– Numerous tests point to pattern
– Statement

21. Organize

22. The Scientific Method
observations
Testing

23. How does science relate to me?
• Make a list of 10 different things
you have done in last 24 hours
Describe each item (Briefly)
● Circle items related to science

24. Science in daily life
• Chemistry: chemicals to clean
clothes
• Physics: electricity, cars (automotive
engine), television, computers
• Biology: medicine

25. Unit 1. Exercise 1: Solving a
Real-Life Problem
• Your task this week is to identify a
problem in your field that we can
tackle using the scientific method.
• Do internet search
– Current problems in your field

26. Unit 1. Exercise 1: Solving a
Real-Life Problem
• What is the problem/question?
• What have you observed that gives
you clues as to what might be
happening?
• What is a feasible hypothesis to
explain what you have observed?
• How could you test this hypothesis?
What is your prediction about the
outcome of the test?

27. Unit 1. Exercise 1: Solving a
Real-Life Problem
• 1-2 page report
• Describe the problem and
• How the scientific method could be
applied to come up with a solution.
• Answer the questions
• Due 12/17/12

28. The Ongoing Process
of Science
Dynamic process of
scientific research

29. Science is ongoing
• There are still many questions to be
answered by science
• Why scientists still conduct science
• Advancements in modern medicine
– Vaccines, prosthetic limbs
– http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/ja

30. Science in daily life
• Take those items you circled
• Brief explanation on how those items
work in relation to science
Are there other things in daily life
that science could solve?

31. Other Ways of Knowing

32. Different Kinds of Questions
• Cannot always use scientific method
• Art
– Use to address age of painting
– Not for beauty, etc.
• Religion
– No conflict between science and religion
– Faith vs. experiment

33. Pseudoscience
• Pseudoscience
– Belief, dogma
– Ideas not testable
• Evaluation of a claim
1. Are the ‘facts’ true as stated?
2. Is there an alternative explanation?
3. Is the claim falsifiable?
4. Have claims been tested?
5. Do claims require unreasonable
changes in accepted ideas?

34. Writing Assignment 1
• Science in the Media
• List of TV and movies that portray
science
• Is the work of the scientists
glorified? Are the results of
experiments realistic or
exaggerated?

35. Science in the Media
• Do the TV/movie characters follow
the steps of the scientific method?
• How does the science you see on TV
and movies compare to the science
you read about in the news?
• www.nytimes.com

36. Writing assignment 1: Due 12/17
• Look at the website of a newspaper
2-3 news articles
• controversial scientific issues like
climate change, stem cell research,
or evolution.
• Summarize how each article
demonstrates that science makes a
difference in our lives.
• Discuss how news articles differ from
scientific articles.

37. Language Barrier
• Technical language versus ‘everyday’
speech
• Climate change
– Scientists focus on future
– Public wants to know in relation to
present day
– http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/n

38. The Organization of Science

39. Divisions of Science
• What does a scientist do?
• Imagine what a scientist would look
like
• Approach
– Field researcher
– Experimentalists
– Theorists

40. Scientists Work at Many
Different Tasks

41. The Branches of Science
• Physics
– Fundamental aspects of nature
• Chemistry
– Atoms in combination
• Biology
– Living systems
• Astronomy
– Objects in space
• Geology
– Earth

42. The Web of Knowledge
• Center
– Laws of nature
– Apply to all areas
• Areas Interconnected
– All branches integrated

43. The Interconnected Web of
Scientific Knowledge

44. Funding for Science
• US Government
– $130 billion
– NSF, NIH, DOE, DOD, EPA, NASA,
NOAA
• Apply for funds
– Grant proposal
• Ranked by independent scientists
• Highly competitive

45. Major Research Laboratories

46. 2008: Federal Science
Funding

47. Communication Among
Scientists
• Collaboration
• Scientific Meetings
• Peer reviewed Journals
– Cornerstone of science

48. Writing Assignment 2
• Process of science
• Find article on scientific research
found on the ITT Tech Virtual Library
• Read the abstract and pay attention
to figures as you skim the rest of the
article.
• Identify the general area of science
that is being studied (biology,
chemistry, physics, earth science,
astronomy)

49. Writing Assignment 2
• Summarize and explain in your own
words how/why the researchers
working on this project are “doing
science “?
• Due 1/7/13

50. Writing Assignment 2
• Does this article make sense to you?
• Is it easy or difficult to understand?
• Can you identify the steps of the
scientific method in this article,
• and can you get a good idea of what
the scientist did?
• Discuss the importance of
communication in science and
difficulties of conveying scientific
content to the general public.

51. Virtual Library
• ITT Virtual Library
– EBSCO host, citations (APA)
• Earth Science
• Chemistry
• Biology

52. Scientific Articles
• Peer reviewed
• Introduction
– Observations and Hypotheses
– Predictions
• Methods/Materials
– Testing, experiments, data
• Results
• Discussion
– Summarize your findings and what others have
found