Nature of Science Jill Hansen

Tammy Stundon

June 11, 2012

Gulf Coast State College Panhandle Area Educational Consortium

5230 West Highway 98 753 West Boulevard

Panama City, Florida 32401 Chipley, Florida 32428

850-769-1551 877-873-7232

www.gulfcoast.edu

Biology Partnership

(A Teacher Quality Grant)

Pre-testQ and A board

Bell RingerScience Knowledge Survey

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards

• SC.912.N.1.1 – define a problem based on a specific body of knowledge, for example: biology, chemistry, physics, and earth/space science and do the following:

– Pose questions - conduct observations - examine known resources– Review evidence - plan investigations - use tools to gather info– Pose answers/explanations - communicate results

Also Assesses: SC.912.N.1.4 – Identify sources of infoSC.912.N.1.6 – scientific inferencesSC. 912.L.14.4 – microscopesand various language/math standards on communication & analysis

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards

Clarifications: • Students will design a scientific investigation using evident of

scientific thinking.• Students will interpret and analyze data to make predictions

and/or defend conclusions• Students will compare/contrast the structure/function of a

microscope (compound, dissecting, scanning electron)• Students will evaluate the merits of scientific explanations

produced by others• Students will assess the reliability of sources of info• Student will describe how scientific inferences are made from

observations and identify examples from biologyPrior knowledge: lot of standards from 6th – 8th grades

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards

• SC.912.N.3.4 – recognize that theories do not become laws, nor do laws become theories; theories are well supported explanations and laws are well supported descriptionsIncludes standards: N.1.3-4, N.1.6.7, N.2.1-2, N.3.1, N.3.4

Content limits: Items assessing scientific claim, the development of a theory, or the difference between theories and laws are limited to the cell theory

Cognitive complexity: Moderate

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards

Clarifications:

• Students will describe how continuous investigations and/or new scientific information influenced the development of the cell theory.

• Students will identify ways in which a scientific claim is evaluated (e.g., through scientific argumentation, critical and logical thinking, and consideration of alternative explanation)

• Students will identify what is science, what is not science, and what resembles but fails to meet the criteria for science.

• Students will explain the development of a theory.

• Students will recognize the difference between theories and laws

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards

Some of the other standards included:

SC.912.N.1.3 Recognize that the strength or usefulness of a scientific claim is evaluated through scientific argumentation, which depends on critical and logical thinking, and the active consideration of alternative scientific explanations to explain the data presented.

SC.912.N.2.1 Identify what is science, what clearly is not science, and what superficially resembles science (but fails to meet the criteria for science).

SC.912.N.3.1 Explain that a scientific theory is the culmination of many scientific investigations drawing together all the current evidence concerning a substantial range of phenomena; thus, a scientific theory represents the most powerful explanation scientists have to offer.

Our Approach• This summer we are going over topics as if school is just beginning • The first few days of class are usually some housekeeping issues,

getting to know your kids, lab safety, reviewing Latin terms in class, microscopes, and discussing lab reports. We will include such activities throughout this summer session when time allows.

Today…..• How to introduce the topic• Setting the foundation• Scientific method• Science Inquiry Model and Argumentative Driven

Inquiry • Note that these standards transcends throughout

the entire course

THINK about the Nature of Science Activity

• Students are an important active participate in the learning process

• Students need to realize that science is dynamic, hands-on, and changes as our knowledge of the world increases

• Directions:

There are NONE!

THINK about the Nature of Science Activity

• New information given……

• In groups brainstorm and share how this activity is similar to “doing” science

JANE GOODALL & DIAN FOSSEY

CURIOSITY STARTED IT ALL

IT ALL STARTS WITH CURIOSITY

Questions all around you…. Is Global Warming, do diet pills work, etc

• FALSE CLAIMS------BUYER BEWARE !!!!!

Question the claims on packages

- How do you know it wards off colds?

So how do we ensure what we find out is sound, not made up, and

is supported?

Scientific Method!Testable

RepeatableQuantifiable

Through the scientific method we gain empirical knowledge that is not only repeatable, testable but rational as well.

Why is it important to have “biological literacy” – look at what is in the news!

Pros/cons?

Absence of the Scientific Method!

RATS SUPERSTITIOUS BEHAVIOR- Pavlov’s Dog

HUMAN SUPERSTITIOUS BEHAVIOR

Absence of the Scientific Method!

Others?

It relies on rational testable and repeatable observations

HOW DO WE USE THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Steps: 1. Observations and develop a question2. Hypothesis3. Develop a DETAILED procedure (PB & J!) 4. Gather materials5. Experimentation 6. Data results7. Conclusion

SCIENTIFIC METHOD

You will find variations in every textbook and teacher stressing different area.The test gives the scientific method its validity. The steps are “self-correcting.”The steps do not have to be in order. What does this mean?

Steps:

1. Observations and develop a question

2. Hypothesis• Definition (and this is my personal one)

- educated STATEMENT - testable- has the possibility to be true. - can be an IF……THEN statement

• Null versus True Hypothesis

3. Develop a DETAILED procedure

- Very important that your experiments can be repeated. Why?

4. Gather materials

5. Experiment: - variables – test only one at a time- Independent and dependent variables

- Independent – the variable that is varied or manipulated by the researcher- Dependent – the response to the independent

- Control group versus experimental group- Must have data to compare the experimental data go; makes your findings

more precise and not just accurate- Lab versus field experiment

6. Data – MATH- Data tables, graphs – no interpretations

7. Draw conclusions and make revisions- Interpretation of data. - Was your hypothesis correct? - What did you learn in the process? - Is it ok if everything went wrong? - What would you have done different?

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

STEP 1Make

observations.

STEP 2Formulate ahypothesis.

STEP 3Devise

a testableprediction.

STEP 4Conducta critical

experiment.

STEP 5Draw

conclusionsand makerevisions.

The scientific method rarely proceeds in a straight line. Conclusions, for example, often lead to new observations and refined hypotheses.

Termite Activity

Then Break!

Bell RingerObtaining reliable data is a must!

• Getting the data

• RELIABILITY OF EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY—you can’t always believe what you see.

Why we must have an experiment with data……. Why we can’t use correlations to make conclusion.….

awareness clip

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

STEP 1: MAKE OBSERVATIONS

OBSERVATION:To many people, consuming Echinacea extract seems to reduce the intensity or duration of symptoms of the common cold.

HYPOTHESIS:Echinacea reduces the duration and severity of the common cold.

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

STEP 2: FORMULATE A HYPOTHESIS

What would the Null Hypothesis be?

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

STEP 3: DEVISE A TESTABLE PREDICTION

Individualstreated withechinacea.

Individuals nottreated withechinacea.

PREDICTION:If Echinacea reduces the duration and the severity of symptoms of the common cold, then:• Individuals taking Echinacea should get sick less frequently than those not taking it.• Individuals who get sick should recover more quickly.

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

STEP 4: CONDUCT A CRITICAL EXPERIMENT

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4

EXPERIMENTAL GROUPResearchers randomly divided 437 volunteers into four groups to test the effect of Echinacea on the common cold.

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4

TREATMENT (BEFORE EXPOSURE)

EXPERIMENTAL GROUPResearchers randomly divided 437 volunteers into four groups to test the effect of Echinacea on the common cold.

One placebotablet daily

One Echinaceatablet daily

No treatment

Groups 1 and 2 receive tablets for 7 days longer than groups 3 and 4, in order to determine if treatment prior to exposure has any effect on the development or duration of symptoms.

Which is the exp. group and which is the control group?

TREATMENT (BEFORE EXPOSURE)

One placebotablet daily

One Echinaceatablet daily

No treatment

Groups 1 and 2 receive tablets for 7 days longer than groups 3 and 4, in order to determine if treatment prior to exposure has any effect on the development or duration of symptoms.

After one week, all individuals are exposed to a cold-causing virus.

After one week, all individuals are exposed to a cold-causing virus.

TREATMENT (AFTER EXPOSURE)

One placebotablet daily

One placebotablet daily

One Echinaceatablet daily

One Echinaceatablet daily

HEALTH EVALUATIONFor five days, doctors monitor all groups for cold symptoms.

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP 5

TREATMENTPlacebo beforeand after exposureto cold virusEchinacea beforeand after exposureto cold virusPlacebo afterexposure tocold virusEchinacea afterexposure tocold virus

CONCLUSIONS FURTHER EXPERIMENTATION

• Individuals from all four groups are just as likely to develop a cold.• Cold symptoms lasted for the same amount of time in all groups.• Echinacea had no effect on the duration or severity of the cold.

• Alter the amount of Echinacea given to subjects.• Alter the length of time subjects receive the Echinacea treatment.

Experimental conclusions often generate ideas for further experimentation. Like what?

THEORY:

(A SCIENTIFIC THEORY IS USED DIFFERENTLY THEN HOW IT IS USED IN THE GENERAL PUBLIC)

An explanatory hypothesis for a natural phenomenon that is exceptionally well supported by the empirical data (obtained by

the experiments)It has withstood the test of time and is unlikely to be altered by

any new evidence. It is viewed by the scientific community as nearly the same

confidence of a fact.

TWO IMPORTANT BIOLOGICAL THEORIES:

1. CELL THEORY - ALL ORGANISMS ARE MADE OF CELLS 2. THEORY OF EVOLUTION BY NATURAL SELECTION - that species changes over timeEX: MAMMOTH -> MODERN ELEPHANT

Be careful on the illustrations/graphs

you use!

• SC.912.N.3.4 – recognize that theories do not become laws, nor do laws become theories; theories are well supported explanations and laws are well supported descriptions

Fun with Bubbles

• Distinguish between qualitative and quantitative data

• Utilize the tools of measurement and emphasize the importance of the metric system

PSEUDOSCIENCE: Scientific-sounding claims that are not supported by methodical

scientific studies. It capitalizes on the beliefs shared by most people but the

scientific bases for a scientific sounding claim are NOT true. EX: “4 out of 5 dentists recommend sugarless gum; Astrology –

planet positions affect your ability to get a new job.

ANECDOTAL OBSERVATIONS: These are based on only one or just a few observations.

People conclude that there are a link or correlation between two things. This can seem harmless but can be emotionally

powerful and frequently deflects from the real issue. EX: HOROSCOPES, VACCINES CAUSE AUTISM

COULD THE HORSE REALLY DO MATHEMATICAL CALCULATIONS ???

SUBTLE HINTS AND BODY

LANGUAGE---SHOULD HAVE USED ‘BLIND’

EXPERIMENTALDESIGN

PSEUDOSCIENCE AND ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE. WHAT IS THE TRUTH ??????

The Fortune Teller Miracle Fish

Watch as the fortune teller miracle fish's movements decide your fortune!

Can you figure it out?

Form a hypothesis andtest it!

Oobleck

A non-Newtonian liquid!

Can you explain what is happening?

Follow up

• Q & A

• Post Test• Give-a-ways