What is Science?
Science - “to know”
Rodin “The thinker”
Leonardo da Vinci “Fetus in Utero”
Script and Symbols
Science and the Scientific
Method
• Experimentation and
observations of the real world
• Provides explanations
• Use knowledge to make
predictions
• The
refers
to HOW you investigate, not
WHAT you investigate
Discovery Science
•
•
•
By describing nature accurately we can discover
its structure, and gain insight into how the world
around us works
Relies on observations and measurements that
can be confirmed
Uses inductive reasoning (going from specific
observations to reach a general conclusion)
Hypothesis-driven Science
•
•
•
Asks questions and seeks explanations to
understand how the world around us works
Relies on the Scientific Method
Uses deductive reasoning (“if….then….”)
The Scientific Method
1. Make an observation
2. Suggest a hypothesis or explanation
- A educated guess to answer a scientific question
- Must be testable and falsifiable
- Make a prediction
3. Test the hypothesis
- Devise and perform a test or experiment
- Reach a conclusion
- Accept or reject the hypothesis
NB: This doesn’t mean the hypothesis is definitely
just that you accept it for now!
,
The Scientific Method
Understanding the scientific method will:
•
•
Enhance your ability to act on scientific
information
Help you distinguish science from pseudoscience
All science advances by accepting or
rejecting
.
Scientific Theory
• Broad explanation of a large set of
observations
• Rests on many hypotheses and supported
by multiple experiments
• Generates additional hypotheses
• NOT an untested hypothesis based on
little information!
A(n) ________ is a proposed
explanation for a single observation.
A.
B.
C.
D.
scientific method
hypothesis
scientific theory
experiment
The Scientific Method
The Scientific Method
(deductive reasoning)
The Scientific Method
The Scientific Method
If people who
take vitamin C
suffer fewer
colds than
those who do
not. . .
If people who
take vitamin C
suffer the
same number
of colds or
more than
those who do
not. . .
Conclude that
prediction is
true
Conclude that
prediction is
false
Do not reject
the hypothesis
Reject the
hypothesis
Conduct
additional
tests
Consider
alternative
hypotheses
Which of the following is correct?
A. A hypothesis can be wrong.
B. A hypothesis is not always testable.
C. A hypothesis can prove a person’s
values.
D. A hypothesis should be formed before
making any observations.
Which of the following is a scientific
hypothesis?
A. Jazz is better music than rap.
B. Garden fairies make tomatoes grow
better.
C. Hunting species to extinction is wrong.
D. Increasing the amount of protein in a
cow’s diet increases her milk yield.