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What is the nature of science?

What is the nature of science?. Science. Definition: process of inquiry that searches for relationships that explain and predict the physical, living, and designed world According to the National Academy of Science:

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What is the nature of science?

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  1. What is the nature of science?

  2. Science • Definition: process of inquiry that searches for relationships that explain and predict the physical, living, and designed world • According to the National Academy of Science: • Science is a particular way of knowing about the world. In science, explanations are limited to those based on observations and experiments that can be substantiated by other scientists. Explanations that cannot be based on empirical evidence are not part of science.

  3. Scientists are… • Often passionate • Curious and creative • Imaginative • Skeptical and self-examining • Objective and open-minded?

  4. Scientific Investigations • …follow a process to determine relationships between independent and dependent variables • This relationship is described in a hypothesis: If…(independent variable), then…(dependent variable). • Hypotheses are testable predictions. • Often based on the work of others…extends knowledge one tiny bit at a time.

  5. Science advances Knowledge Technology advances Society http://www.famouspeoplebiographyguide.com/images/Alexander-Fleming-Biography.jpg http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/FacultyPages/PamMack/lec122sts/penicillin.jpg http://inventorspot.com/files/images/Penicillin.img_assist_custom.jpg

  6. Technology • Definition: application of scientific discoveries to meet human needs and goals through the development of products and processes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Windshield-spiderweb.jpg

  7. Four stages of technological design: • Problem identification • Solution design (process or a product) • Implementation • Evaluation

  8. Common requirements within the solution design stage: • Cost effectiveness or lowest cost • Time effectiveness or least amount of time required • Materials that meet these criteria: • Solves the problem • Reasonably priced • Availability • Durability • Not harmful to users or the environment • Manufacturing process matches characteristics of the material • ***Benefits should exceed risks, and there are tradeoffs to the process: the “best” may be too expensive

  9. Theories… Are explanations of the observed phenomena Organize facts and concepts into WHY the phenomena happens NEVER become a fact or a law…they are always tentative until disproved or revised Ex: Theory of Evolution Laws … Are broad concepts or principles Describe phenomena or patterns in nature Often accepted as facts, but can actually be subject to limiting conditions Ex: Laws of Motion Theory vs. Law

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